MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Homeless families in Martinsburg may not be able to find shelter together.
That’s the current state of affairs, as there are separate shelters in town for women and children as well as for men and older teenaged boys. The Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission hopes to change that.
“Emergency, transitional family housing – there’s none in Berkeley County,” Rescue Mission Superintendent Pastor Tim Guerino said. “That gap is huge. We have a lot of families we deal on a regular basis that are homeless in Berkeley County. This way the families stay together. Right now, families get split up sometimes, or they choose not to get split up. They stay in their vehicles, and they stay homeless.”
First up is a feasibility study, funded in part by fundraising from the United Way and donations from a local church.
Guerino said he sees homeless families every week.
“We helped one family this past winter who lived in their minivan, and the wife even gave birth to another child. They’ve now got some housing. It took a long time. The kids lived in the car at night. It was a real tough situation. The gentleman now has a job. They’re doing much better. We see that every day.”
Guerino said he can’t speculate on the cost of the project until the study is done. Among other ideas under study is the possibility of opening another thrift store in the county.
Pastor Guerino was a guest on Monday’s Panhandle Live, heard weekday mornings at 9:06 on WEPM and WCST.
Story by Marsha Chwalik