One Hopeful Place unveils new cold-night shelter for Fort Walton Beach's homeless

The weather was appropriately cool and windy Wednesday as business and community leaders gathered at One Hopeful Place to get their first look at the homeless shelter's new, dedicated cold-night shelter facility.

"I think it's great that there's a little breeze in the air today," said Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce President Ted Corcoran to the crowd. "Imagine what it would be like if it was 20 degrees colder and you had to sleep on the streets."

Corcoran noted the community for years has provided overnight shelter to people living on the streets. Early on, Fort Walton Beach churches took turns hosting cold-night shelters.

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In 2016, One Hopeful Place opened at 1564 Percy L. Coleman Road, in a complex that used to house Fort Walton Beach's wastewater treatment facility. That year the cold-night shelter was moved to One Hopeful Place, and cold-night guests slept in an inflatable and heated tent set up on the grounds.

As One Hopeful Place began to renovate and expand into some the complex's other buildings, cold-night shelter guests were moved to the common areas used by the shelter's full-time residents.

Now, a newly converted building on the One Hopeful Place grounds houses 48 beds in a heated and cooled space that is dedicated solely to providing refuge for those seeking shelter from the cold.

This is separate from One Hopeful Place's resident population of 50 men and 11 women, who live in two separate buildings. On cold nights, women will continue to stay in the common area of the women's residence while men will use the new facility.

Cold night brings in 35 to 40 people

The cold-night shelter opens if the temperature in the south end of Okaloosa County drops below 40 degrees between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

A typical cold night will bring in about 35 to 40 people, said Bonnie Barlow, president and CEO of Bridgeway Center Inc., which manages the shelter.

Barlow said when temperatures drop, police, radio stations and others are notified to get the word out, and people seeking shelter can get a ride from the Bridgeway offices at Shell Avenue and First Street in downtown Fort Walton Beach.

"We start picking up around 3 o'clock and bring them out here," Barlow said. "While they're here they get a hot meal, they'll be able to take a shower and have a warm place to sleep. The next morning they get breakfast and then we pick them up and bring them back."

Barlow said that people's bicycles and belongings are secured at Bridgeway Center downtown and that staff at One Hopeful Place try to make the most out of their time with cold-night shelter visitors.

"While they're here we try to talk with them as much as possible to find out how we can help them get off the streets," Barlow said.

'When I was ready to get help, One Hopeful Place was there'

Fort Walton Beach native and former U.S. Marine Walter Arrington was one of those people, and he spoke during Wednesday's ceremony.

"I came to One Hopeful Place in 2017, having been on streets for a number of years," Arrington said. "When I was ready to get help, One Hopeful Place was there. I was able to get the treatment and care that I needed to address the underlying issues that kept me in homelessness, that kept me in dysfunction."

In the time since then, Arrington said he's found transitional housing and a job, went back to school, completed his bachelor's degree and will graduate from University of West Florida in May with a master's degree.

"Professionally, what I do now is work with the unhoused population in Pensacola," Arrington said. "Nobody wants to be on the streets, but they don't have the hope and they don't have the vision to understand how they can get out of it."

Arrington thanked the crowd, which included not only shelter staff, but numerous businesses and individuals who have donated their time and money to One Hopeful Place over the years.

"You're changing lives in a meaningful way by supporting One Hopeful Place," Arrington said . "You all impacted my life here, and now I get to pass that along."

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: One Hopeful Place opens new homeless shelter in Fort Walton Beach