YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Full Spectrum Community Outreach has taken ownership of their new homeless shelter and community outreach center — now, their newest challenge is to get both facilities ready to use.
After nearly five years of searching, fundraising and waiting, Full Spectrum Community Outreach Center finally has the sets of keys they need for their new community outreach center and homeless shelter.
“We have gone and looked at over 50 different places all over the Valley. We have done the research, we have done the grant writing. We’ve done all of it — and now we officially have it,” said Tim Bortner, CEO of Full Spectrum.
Once complete, the shelter will have three rooms and house approximately eight people. Full Spectrum will be able to house individuals, couples and families who are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Bortner expects the shelter to be ready sometime between October 2023 and February 2024.
“We’re also looking for an architect and a construction team as well, because this the shelter space,” Bortner said. “We need an architect in there to look at. We have to put in some bathrooms to make it up to code. We have to put in a kitchen.
Bortner said the shelter will offer a 60-day program to give people the opportunity to get back on their feet.
“They’re going to learn how to balance a checkbook. They’re going to learn how to job interviews. They’re going to learn how to, if they need help with food assistance or housing, we’re going to get them all those resources,” Bortner said. “We’re going to get them the counseling and the mental health [help] that they need.”
This is all made possible through generous community donations. One person anonymously donated $10,000.
“Someone from our area that grew up here that moved out of the area, moved out of state, that struggled as a kid here in the LGBT community,” Bortner said. “They said that they wish they would have had this when they were growing up here.”
The Community Center is located in the old Hope House on Earle Avenue. The location of the shelter will not be disclosed due to safety concerns.
Full Spectrum Community Outreach will begin hosting meetings in their community center this weekend.
