Reina Werth, Staff writer
Last fall, the Shalom Center opened the doors to its new facility at 4314 39th Ave, 
Kenosha, Wisconsin.
This new shelter provides room for more emergency housing than in the previous shelter, which had been renovated from the former Deming School. The old Shalom Center housed room for few families, and a soup kitchen which served around 200 people each night. The new building, which was funded with about $1.8 million in donations and a $664,000 federal grant, holds a full industrial kitchen and space for over 65 people.
“It impacts the community in a positive way because not only does it help the community but it opens the mind of the community to let them know that they are very fortunate to have what they have currently whether you worked for it or not,” said Ryan Patton, a Communications Academy junior at Indian Trail High School and Academy.
In 2016, about 26,504 people reported experiencing homelessness and receiving shelter in Wisconsin, though the actual number of homeless is thought to be much larger. Because of this, in 1982, Greta Hansen founded the Interfaith Center in Kenosha. The Interfaith Center’s first project was the soup kitchen. Just three years after its founding, the Interfaith Center purchased Deming School from Kenosha Unified School District and transformed it into a soup kitchen for anyone who needed food.
“Our old building only had the capacity for 32 people, or eight families, housed on our third floor, and it was unsafe. There were no fire escapes. It was not handicap accessible,” said Lynn Biese-Carroll, executive director of the Shalom Center.
In 1990, the second floor of the former Deming School became an emergency family shelter. In the same year, a children’s classroom and the nursing center were added. A year later, the Interfaith Network Nightly Shelter program started up. All of these programs have helped to get many people back on their feet, including some IT students.
“Our new building has an 82 bed capacity, which has resulted in us not having to house families on the basement floors of churches,”said Biese-Carroll.
“Those who come to us for shelter receive three meals a day, with laundry facilities and showers available every night. The school bus comes every day, right in front of the shelter for the kids who stay with us,” she said.
The Shalom Center is also a spot often chosen by Indian Trail students to volunteer at for required service hours. This not only gives them the opportunity to help the community, but shows them that being homeless is just one part of someone. They see people who know all of the regular volunteers by name, and greet them with a smile each time. A man comes for a meal, and before he leaves hands out flowers to all the volunteers. A family enjoys a meal together.
“I am fortunate to live the way that I live instead of having to rely on an organization like the Shalom Center for basic things like food,” said Patton.
This new facility will help to grow the spirit of Kenosha and will continue to extend a helping hand to anyone who needs it.
“I want Indian Trail students to be kind to their fellow students. You don’t know if they are wearing dirty clothes or don’t look as nice because they don’t have the resources for more than that,” said Biese-Carroll.
