After a period of financial difficulties, The Warming Shelter that gives a place for people experiencing homelessness to get out of dicey conditions will close on October 1.
A Facebook post by shelter officials on Thursday announced the closure, which ends a period of 11 years as the city’s sole emergency center for unhoused people.
On the coldest winter periods, from 130 to 150 people used The Warming Shelter. Board members told the Sioux City Journal on Wednesday that they fear deaths from hypothermia will take place, since people will have few reliable options during severe cold.
The center opened as a non-profit entity in 2013 in a small space on the Sioux City Soup Kitchen, and eventually moved to 916 Nebraska Street.It operates on a budget entirely made of donations, with a concerted decision not to rely on state or federal programs.
The Warming Shelter Facebook post reads, “This decision has not been made lightly. We understand the vital role The Warming Shelter has played in providing safety, warmth, and hope to those who needed it most. For many, we have been more than just a shelter—we have been a place of refuge, a place to rebuild, and a place where compassion thrives.”
The past year has been difficult for Warming Shelter officials.
Back in January, they asked the Sioux City Council to provide about $420,000 in funding to stay open. The council denied that request, but in July they approved $50,000 for The Warming Shelter.
*Additionally, the last stretch of an 15-mile recreational trail connecting Spirit Lake, Iowa, with Lake Park to the west is now done.
The Tatanka Ska Trace Trail has been in planning for years, and officials are pleased the full length is open, after the miles closest to Lake Park were finished near Labor Day weekend.
An old railroad bed was pinpointed for the trail, and participation by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and some grant funding and fundraising efforts brought it to completion.
As Tatanka Ska Trace Trail connects the two towns, about midway it also goes through the tiny town of Montgomery.
Dickinson County in the Iowa Great Lakes region first added a rec trail in the early 1990s, and now has well over 40 miles of trails going through several towns and all kinds of terrain, including rolling hills and by waterways such as rivers and lakes.
*Three petitions that Nebraska grassroots organizers hope will make it onto the November ballot are nearing the end of the verification process, according to a press release from the Secretary of State’s Office.
The three remaining petitions include the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection initiative, Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation initiative and the Private Education Scholarship partial referendum.
While not yet certified, the three initiative and referendum petitions have met the signature threshold required for certification. Therefore, they are expected to qualify for the general election ballot once verification has been completed.
The Nebraska Secretary of State’s office must certify the November general election ballot by Sept. 13.
* Additionally, two athletes from Iowa claimed gold last weekend at the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Olivia Chambers, a senior at the University of Northern Iowa, won the women’s 400 meter freestyle for visually impaired swimmers. She is UNI’s first paralympic medalist, and on Thursday Chambers won the silver medal in the 100 meter breaststroke.
Matt Stutzman, also known as ‘the Armless Archer,’ lives in Fairfield and won the men’s individual compound open. Stutzman broke the world record for the farthest accurate archery shot in 2015.
