Homeless Community Sets Up Tents Outside Closed Homeless Shelter

Chelsea Edwards with our partners at News 10 shared the photo above of the mini tent city that has shot up since the closing of the Friends in Crisis Shelter in Killeen.

The doors have been closed since May 18th at 412 East Sprott St in downtown Killeen while the city looks for additional funding to run the shelter. News 10 reports the city needs about $1000 dollars per day to cover operational costs for the 75 or so homeless residents who count on the shelter. While they try to find the funding, up go the summer temps.

With the summer heat kicking in, pop up tents have been appearing next to the shelter. If you think about the bad storms and heavy rains we have had in just the last two weeks, it's hard to think of the people having to stay outdoors in those conditions with all the empty beds sitting inside.

So the tents at least provide some relief from the heat and some Killeen residents with big hearts have been stopping by with food and basic toiletries that offer a temporary fix.

William Hall is the Shelter Director. News 10 reports when he spoke to the Central Texas Homeless Coalition Tuesday morning that the shelter has raised $70,000 of the $180,000 dollars needed to re-open. He says the shelter is hoping for grant funding but that if they are awarded that money, it will take until October until it is awarded. Some in attendance voiced concern over the real reason the shelter was closed in the first place. Hall says they are working on a plan to keep this from happening again but also said the final decision about when to reopen rests in the hands of the board.