Two homeless shelters have closed their doors. Pershing Road Mission for homeless men and Grace House for homeless women and children are now closed. The men moved to Water Street Mission. The women and children were moved to other facilities around the city.
"It was kind of out of the blue," explains Kelm, the Executive Director of Decatur Cares Rescue Missions, "The board decided to make the cuts due to the budget deficit. It was over $30,000. We had to close the work training program. We were giving guys a second chance. The whole vision was not to give guys a hand out, but a hand up. Unfortunately we're not able to do that any longer."
"The board has decided to focus on the Water Street Mission and just provide emergency shelter from now on," says Kelm.
DCRM is also closing their thrift store "Hopes Attic II" located on North Water Street and moving their "Hope's Attic" store on North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to a larger, vacant space a few storefronts down.Â
Kelm says he hopes the new storefront will help raise more money, saying, "We're looking forward to a boost of income. It's going to give us about three times the space, and hopefully have more stuff to sell basically."
The bigger thrift storefront space is located in the former Dollar General store at 2922 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
When asked how the $30,000 came to be, Kelm says the Decatur Cares Rescue Mission isn't getting enough monetary donations. He says this year, DCRM was about $5,000 to $6,000 short each month.
Kelm believes while it's sad that less homeless people will be getting help, it's important to keep giving back. He says, "Keep trying to help people, keep trying to love people, and reaching out because it does help."
Jonathan Kelm says Decatur Cares Rescue Mission plans to reopen Grace House again in the future when finances are in order. He says the $30,000 plus $50,000 line of credit need to be taken care of before they can open any more facilities.
The Water Street Mission is remaining open.
Kelm is resigning as the Executive Director of Decatur Cares Rescue Missions at the end of July. He plans to open a new ministry in North Carolina.
