MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On a very cold night, a local nonprofit would normally help the homeless stay warm, but they can't.
The city of Memphis shut down the shelter at JUICE Orange Mound in early February.
Seventeen days ago, the beds inside were full. For nearly one year, the shelter in Orange Mound welcomed men, women, and children who needed a warm place to stay.
“It's tough,” said Britney Thornton, leader of JUICE Orange Mound. “Our people are not well. The clear issue is that Orange Mound has a homeless community that's not supported. So, for us, we stepped into it to serve."
The city shut down the building located on Park Avenue. Without running water or working bathrooms, the shelter isn’t up to code. But according to Thornton, they're not giving up.
“We're internally as an organization are just figuring out what our commitment to the community is, in the capacity that we have," she said. "Every day, I've been going back to the physical space to be able to provide meals, and just be a presence to let people know that we're still in it with them."
Meanwhile, the nonprofit is working with the city of Memphis on a plan to reopen, which includes rezoning so the shelter can official operate as a warming center and getting the building up proper safety standards.
"We were really just following process, which can have some 30, 60, or 90-day timelines," said Thornton. "We are working with division planning and development to be able to meet some internal deadlines that they have set."
On Tuesday, February 22nd, the nonprofit is hosting a virtual strategy meeting, to streamline community resources and finalize its plan.
You can click here to join the meeting. You can also click here to see the nonprofit's GoFundMe page.