the west side facility to serve a growing homeless population, and runs 3 separate programs under one roof- one for single men, one for single women, and one for families. This would be made possible by several partners working together to staff and facilitate these programs. Van Buren contains a front door shelter separated by gender for those experiencing homelessness for the first time that only need a short stay or minimal services. In addition, the facility contains flex space for up to 244 overflow beds for men and women to assure the system has flexible bed capacity at all times. This eliminates waitlists as well as the need to site a winter overflow shelter each year.
kristian.tucker@ymcacolumbus.org