New DeKalb Shelter Open With Space For People Who Need Warmth

A new homeless shelter in DeKalb County has opened earlier than expected, with plenty of space left for people trying to stay out of the elements.

The non-profit organization Live and Let Live started the shelter, opened ahead of schedule on Sunday. Vice President Lillie Johnson said there are over sixty homeless people in the county but only two are staying at the shelter so far.

“Word’s got to get around, and so until we get around to all the places that they’re staying, or, and some people don’t want to come to a shelter, so there’s that,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the organization plans to keep the shelter open after the weather improves on an as-needed basis. She said future plans for the shelter include getting a more accurate number of the county’s homeless population as well as applying for federal funding to expand the shelter and its offerings to the community.

“By the twenty-fifth of this month I think we’re going to have to have numbers for how many are in the county for UCHRA,” Johnson said. “They get federal monies for other things.”

Johnson said the non-profit also wants to evaluate what kind of the support the local community needs.

“I realize there are women and children out there, and sometimes the Presbyterian church is opened up for women, so I don’t know if we’ll be doing just men and then let the Presbyterian church do women, but we have had several other churches to get involved,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the shelter is well stocked for now but will need donations in the form of toiletries and perishable goods as time goes on.

“Anytime there’s food that’s in a quantity, you know, that’s left over that’s soups or that kind of thing, I’m sure we can – we have a freezer so we can freeze some things,” Johnson said.