Kenosha---With a new matching grant in hand, the city's only permanent homeless shelter seems well on its way toward meeting its fundraising goal for a badly-needed new building.
At a Plan Commission meeting Thursday evening, Shalom Center Executive Director Lynn Biese-Carroll announced that a second donor has come forward to match, dollar-for-dollar, contributions up to $100,000.
Even before the announcement, with the help of a jump-starting, $100,000 grant from Denis and Kay Wikel, the Shalom Center had raised $750,000 toward its $1.8 million goal.
The Wikels stepped forward after the agency failed to get a large federal grant that it had expected.
The process of converting a vacant 39th Avenue office building into a homeless shelter and soup kitchen has already begun. Why not wait until all of the funds are in hand? "The Board of Directors of the Shalom Center has said they will not go another winter with people walking on the streets," Biese-Carroll explained after the meeting.
The agency had originally hoped to have the new building ready by this winter. But delays in obtaining a large federal grant, and then the surprise rejection of the grant application, screwed up those plans.
The new building with its larger shelter component will mean churches won’t have to house nightly overflows of homeless people. At Thursday night's meeting, Commission members unanimously recommended approval of the project.
Not only did they lend their support in the form of a positive vote, several commissioners donated money on the spot.
Commissioner Anita Faraone was the first to hand over a check to a surprised Biese-Carroll. Faraone then challenged her colleagues to do the same. Several followed suit.
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