Homeless shelter experiment going well

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Dickinson Churches United for the Homeless has seen an average of 1.9 guests per night in its first month of operating a homeless shelter in the basement of volunteer churches.

DCUH has seen no more than five guests on a given night, according to a report Chairman Ron Dazell, associate pastor at Evangelical Bible Church, presented to the Dickinson City Commission at its regular meeting on Monday at City Hall.

So far there have been no incidents and the organization’s planning seems to be paying off, Dazell said.

The shelter will need more volunteers if it were to continue next winter, he said.

“We’re going to start to get tired as they stay awake at night,” Dazell said.

The City Commission commended DCUH for its efforts to give those in need a warm place to sleep.

“I think your entire organization, and you in particular, have just really done a great job here,” Commission President Dennis Johnson said. “That speaks well of the people in our community. It’s great to see the churches working together and you certainly are part of the solution and not part of the problem.”

For more information about DCUH and to fill out a volunteer application, visit www.homelessindickinson.org.

Tags: news, local, dickinson, homeless