06/05/2026
I have some unfortunate news to share with our community. Out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of our shelter guests - we had to evacuate our women’s shelter and can no longer accept families or single women at this time.
The building that sits next to our shelter has been abandoned for quite some time. Its condition has deteriorated greatly and the chimney is now resting against our shelter. Should this chimney fall, it will cause irreparable harm. We, in good conscience, could no longer subject unhoused women and families to this potential danger.
I want to thank City of Bellefontaine code enforcement for attempting to address this issue, fiercely.
A thank you to our County Commissioners, Mike Yoder, Greg Fitzpatrick, and Joe Antram for taking my concerns seriously and advocating for urgent resolutions to this matter.
Also, thank you to our friends at TCN Soteria House for answering our urgent calls and helping us navigate this situation. They ensured our current shelter guests remained in their community where they can continue to stay on the path towards self sufficiency.
A special thank you to Karen Beasley, from Beasley Architecture & Design for dropping everything this morning to visually examine the condition of this chimney, and validating our concerns.
We do not know when we will be able to accept single women and families again. There is necessary action that needs to be taken by the proper authorities, and it is out of our hands.
It should be noted, in 2026 alone, our shelter has housed over 5 families (10 children in total), and 9 single women. The inability to house single women and families is devastating for our community, thus the urgency of this needing to be resolved.
