Tricia Kramer says she looks forward to helping make a change.
"It’s time to be part of the solution," said the newly hired Rochester Community Warming Center coordinator.
Kramer was hired last month by Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota to oversee operations at the warming center being built in a portion of the Olmsted County-owned strip mall at 200 Fourth St. SE.
A St. Charles resident, Kramer has been a University of Phoenix professor, teaching health and human services administration classes. Prior to that, she founded and ran a long-term care facility, Rosewood Adult Family Home, for people with developmental disabilities.
Work remains on the center, but Kramer said she’s been using the time to hire three night shift managers, who are being trained. With plans to have access to the space soon, she said she expects to have a plan for recruiting volunteers next week.
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Tom Parlin, program manager for Catholic Charities’ local Parish Social Ministry, said he expects many elements of operating the warming center will mirror how Catholic Charities has run a similar facility in Winona.
He said Winona volunteers are recruited through a variety of partnerships. As a result, churches and other groups choose nights to schedule their volunteers, leaving Catholic Charities to fill any gaps.
Kramer said she’s hoping to find similar groups of volunteers in Rochester, as well as individual volunteers.
Parlin said Winona has approximately 200 volunteers. "That would be a good goal here in Rochester to start," he added.
The goal is to have at least three people manning the warming center throughout the night, with one staff member and two volunteers.
Once it opens, the center will be available nightly from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., providing 30 beds for homeless individuals who need a warm place to stay overnight.
Kramer said she’s excited about offering the services locally but sees a challenge if numbers grow.
"I’m quite concerned about the 31st person that comes into the center and wants to stay the night," she said.
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It’s a concern shared by Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, who said preliminary results from a recent count of homeless residents appears to indicate more than 30 beds could be needed.
Trent Fluegel, Olmsted County’s housing resource coordinator, said the numbers are not ready to be released but will be part of ongoing work with consultants from the Corporation for Supportive Housing to determine community needs.
The creation of a warming center, which was funded by the county, city and local business entities, comes after a test of opening the Salvation Army’s warming center on a nightly basis for most of March.
With the three-week experiment, 151 different people used the Salvation Army’s warming center last winter, with a nightly count ranging from eight to 47. Nightly averages were less than 30 throughout the winter.
Salvation Army officials cited plans to offer potential overflow space for homeless residents on the coldest nights of the year, but details for the service remain in the works.
On Wednesday, Maj. Lisa Mueller said the Salvation Army is waiting to see what Olmsted County and Catholic Charities determine to use as a "Plan B" if the nightly warming center reaches capacity.
Parlin said creating plans for overflow is a top priority for Catholic Charities.
He noted one advantage of operating a county-owned site with city support is the potential for direct access to services to help homeless residents.
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Fluegel has noted in the past that the goal is to use the center as a place to connect with homeless residents who may not have been contacted in the street or at local agencies. By doing that, he said the county’s social workers could reduce the number of people needing the warming center on a daily basis.
Parlin said the added help will benefit the overall goal, and operations at the Rochester center will be adjusted to meet any specific needs in Rochester, when possible.
With a goal of opening the center’s doors on Dec. 15, he said the organization is trying to remain flexible, in case the weather turns frigid before that day. The key, he said, will be having volunteers ready to help.
"We’ll never be 100 percent ready," he said, but noted Kramer is working to get the operation as close as possible.
While funding for the first season of operations is being funded by Olmsted County, the city of Rochester and local businesses, Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota is already raising funds for next year’s operations.
The organization is accepting donations on its website at www.ccsomn.org/donate-to-the-rochester-community-warming-center, and Mayo Clinic has agreed to match donations to the Rochester Community Warming Center dollar for dollar up to a total of $25,000.
Additionally, shoppers of the People’s Food Co-op, 519 First Ave. SW, will be able to round up their purchases this month with all round-up monies being donated directly to the warming center.
