Modern shelter comes at a price

Kris Hill

Monday, Nov. 13, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

The Shade Tree shelter for homeless women and children moved into its new $6 million building almost two weeks ago, but it is finding out quickly that a shelter needs more than a building to operate.

The three-story building comes with plenty of toilets, storage space for donations and wiring that can handle all of the washers and dryers running at once, Deborah Desouza, Shade Tree's director of community resources, said.

It also comes with a $10,000 per month power bill, compared with $1,200 a month in the old one-story building across the street. In addition, the shelter's staff is finding that it takes more of everything to run the larger operation, from paper towels to volunteer labor to money.

For example, a lot of clothing has been donated since Shade Tree moved Nov. 1, and while it is appreciated, there aren't enough volunteers right now to sort it, Desouza said.

The shelter does not have a single benefactor for funding and relies heavily on federal and private grants as well as donations.

"We will need more money to run the shelter," Desouza said. "We've got to find a way to keep it coming in."

Not everyone understands that it takes money, volunteers and staff to continue to run the shelter, she said.

The more pressing needs of the shelter don't undermine Desouza's enthusiasm. After the bathrooms, the basement is her favorite part of the new building, because she used to have keep supplies in donated storage spaces around the city.

And the new building has other additions, such as the classrooms on the second and third floors, which also house the living areas. There are dayrooms with tables and chairs, training rooms that can be used for classes for the women or the staff.

And there is space for everyone to spread out.

"In the old shelter, all the women used to get in each others' faces," Desouza said.

There were 54 beds in the old building. In the new shelter there are more than 300. Between 800 and 1,000 women and children stay in the shelter each month.

Those who stay at the Shade Tree can feel safer there, as well. There is only one locked entrance to the living and gathering areas. In the lobby there is a security office and monitors used by a guard to keep an eye on the shelter.

Shade Tree's new shelter is still a work in progress. The telephones don't work quite right yet, the basement area doesn't have all of the shelving neccessary to properly store supplies, and there is only one emergency key for the elevator.

"We have a lot of little growing pains," Desouza said. But to have the new facility and be able to help their clients is a fair tradeoff for that, she said.

To find out what types of supplies the shelter needs, call 385-0072.