GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A new Green Bay homeless shelter held a meeting Thursday night to address concerns from community members.
It was an open invitation for neighbors to learn more about the Safe Haven Hope Center, located on Green Bay’s east side.
“We would love to learn from tonight, and we hope that they will learn something about us as well,” said Cathi Oreto, executive director of Safe Haven Hope Center.
The majority of the public comment about the center’s board was positive. Some individuals shared their stories about and experiences with housing insecurity.
“She dragged me in from my lowest low, and now, I’m clean and sober and I am happy,” said Trace Neely.
Questions about procedures and funding were asked. The board said the shelter is still 100% community funded at this time.
One property owner in the neighborhood of Safe Haven Hope Center that did come bringing concerns was State Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Gillett. He noted an incident earlier in April, when law enforcement was called to a Motel 6, where a Safe Haven Hope Center resident was staying at the time.
“Two of them were high on methamphetamine, apparently, and beat a woman bloody, and the SWAT team had to come out and extract them. And that was 20 days ago,” said Wimberger.
Oreto responded, “There was an incident at the Motel 6 with one of our folks, absolutely. And unfortunately, because they weren’t able to be in our house under supervision, we weren’t able to catch it before it happened. But see, it won’t happen at the house like that, because we’ll be able to be there and prevent that.”
Safe Haven is working toward obtaining a conditional use permit. Currently, the shelter is operating under a temporary use permit, which expires June 30. Thursday’s meeting keeps the center on a timeline where it could receive a conditional use permit before the temporary use permit expiration date.
During a dangerous Arctic cold snap earlier this year, the city of Green Bay cited Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary for housing homeless people in its Broadway building, which led to the creation of Safe Haven Hope Center.
