Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991 TAG: 9102280048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Giles County Shelter group, formed last year to study the homelessness problem, will own and operate the shelter. The group, modeled after Montgomery County Community Shelter, has a 14-member board of directors and is working on incorporation.
"I really think there's a need," said Pearisburg Town Manager Ken Vittum, a shelter board member. "We get about two or three emergency calls a month."
Pending a health department inspection, the shelter could be operating within a few months.
Board Chairman Robert Putt, pastor of Pearisburg Baptist Church, has spearheaded the effort to get people involved in solving problems he was surprised existed in this rural community.
"I jog at night," said Putt, who moved here from Burlington, N.C., in 1989. "So one night I was jogging and a man was sleeping in a doorway. I stopped to talk with him.
"I was surprised at first. I wasn't ready for it, but I realize now that the problem probably exists wherever you go."
Putt found other people in Giles County who had nowhere to go. Most were referred to the Salvation Army shelter in Roanoke. During a three-month period, 21 people from Giles stayed at that shelter for an average of 14 days.
And Giles County Community Action and Social Services report that at least two county families per week are without housing.
Putt talked with friends. Many who became interested were influential people such as town managers, council members, the chief of police, church and Social Services leaders.
"Before I knew it, things were snowballing," Putt said.
First, the United Way of Southwest Virginia donated a three-bedroom trailer to the group. Then the Town of Pearisburg offered a trailer site in Bluff City next to its waste treatment management center. The group hopes to rent the lot for a nominal fee.
A local contractor has offered to move the trailer when money can be raised to begin the project. And furnishings given by Mountain Lake Hotel to the Social Services department were donated for use in the trailer.
"We're ready to do something concrete," said Narrows Town Manager Kurt Hodgen, a shelter board member. "This project's in everyone's mind over here and we want to do our part."
The shelter will provide housing for people who are from Giles County or find themselves stranded here.
Putt said he hopes to have the trailer operating as a shelter within two months, but the group needs money. There are no funds to cover costs of such items as a waterline, a septic tank, electrical work and insurance.
Putt recently sent out letters asking for contributions. Checks to "Giles County Shelter" can be mailed to the Rev. Warren Stewart, First United Methodist Church, 1101 Valleyview Drive, Pearisburg, Va. 24134.
by CNB