Men's Warming Shelter raises $13,000 for renovations through Spaghetti on the Square event
Over the weekend, the Spaghetti on the Square event, hosted in downtown Bedford, raised $13,000 towards the “Building a Home for the Homeless” project, which seeks to renovate the property at 1414 H St., for future use as a seasonal homeless shelter.
Heather Flynn, director of the Men’s Warming Shelter, said the event was a success, with over 450 meals served to patrons through both sit-down and drive-thru.
“We had a stellar night with our community, and we could not be more grateful,” Flynn said.
“We loved seeing all the tables fill up and people enjoying the great food and live music by Derrick Weidner and Olivia Doyle. The weather was perfect, and the fellowship was even better,” she continued.
Making an event such as this happen could not be done by just a few individuals, it required a team effort, Flynn told Times-Mail.
Those who helped with Saturday’s fundraiser included shelter staff, regular volunteers, board members and former guests, thought that’s not where the community support for the event ended
“Many others came out to serve, set up and clean up. A special shout out to the BNL football team, who did a lot of the heavy lifting, the many churches and stores who donated food items, the generous sponsors who helped us reach out fundraising goal, Boady's Shakups and Hometown Scoops who added to the festive fun and Downtown at Dacar's, who cooked us more spaghetti when we ran out,” she said.
Renovations nearing completion
Renovations to the building are ongoing, with plenty of progress to be seen inside, including new doors, walls, floors and a kitchen set-up inside, as the facility awaits a potential November opening. Inside, the former commercial property is nearly unrecognizable, as its transformation into the new home of the Men’s Warming Shelter is almost complete.
“It was pretty rough, very rough,” Flynn said describing the building at the time it was initially purchased.
The total cost of the project is $515,000, which covers HVAC, drywall, plumbing, appliances, doors, electrical work and much more.
Following the completion of these renovations, Flynn hopes to potentially expand upon the current offerings of the shelter, which operates from Nov. 1 through March 31 each winter.
We would love to go to a shelter that is, I don’t know if we’d ever go to a shelter that is year round, but we definitely want to expand. We want to expand our services and offer a lot of day services,” said Flynn.
Though the Men’s Warming Shelter is willing to help anyone in need, Flynn said she sees the need in Lawrence County for a similar facility that would serve families, as there is a large population of women and children in Lawrence County, who could utilize such a service.
We need an overnight shelter for women and children. Because Becky's Place is a great place, but they don't always have openings, because there are so many homeless women, so we would love to offer that also,” she said.
Other services
In addition to overnight shelter, meals, showers and clothing, the Men’s Warming Shelter also offers visitors direct assistance or referrals that can help them obtain cell phones, identifying documents, apply for government assistance programs, seek counseling for addiction and mental health issues and find work, as well as permanent housing
Donations
Anyone who would like to donate can do so by visiting www.bedfordmenswarmingshelter.org, or mailing donations made out to Men's Warming Shelter to PO Box 430, Bedford IN 47421.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Men's Warming Shelter raises $13,000 with 2022 Spaghetti on the Square
