SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - After months of anticipation, Springfield will soon see the city's overflow shelter open its doors.

The shelter, which will be located on 11th and Jefferson, had $1.2 million in city funding approved back in August, but needed staffing to open.

Salvation Army and Heartland Continuum of Care are in charge of hiring for the facility.

Director of the Springfield Salvation Army Jeff Eddy said he has people lined up to interview for the remaining positions and plans to begin training next week.

Eddy said he plans for this facility to be more than just a place to sleep or escape the cold.

"So there will be something all day for people and the idea is to better themselves," Eddy said. "Whatever we can do to get people to the next level, to get them to a better place, that's the whole purpose of this. We can't just be a band-aid just for a place to stay. It needs to be something more than that, and that's what we're doing."

City officials like Mayor Jim Langfelder are ready to see the shelter open and help those in need.

Langfelder said part of the funding for the shelter will go towards two mental health professionals, including one from Springfield police and one from Memorial Health.

"We do have an outreach specialist that we are bringing on and then we've helped fund Memorial Health services with regards to a outreach specialist for mental health," Langfelder said. "So we will bolster the homeless outreach team effort by those two individuals."

While this will function as an overflow shelter, Eddy said the goal is to also connect people with the resources they need to get off the streets permanently.

"The last thing we want to do is just make a warehouse for people," Eddy said. "It needs to be purposeful. It needs to get something done while we're there. At night we will take care of the sleeping arrangements and things like that, but during the day, we are going to be working toward something better."

For those interested in working at the shelter, the remaining open positions can be found on Indeed or the Salvation Army's website.