Shelter still in need

AUBURN, Ind., (WANE) --- - Crews are preparing to tear down the historic McIntosh Building in Auburn and that's left a food and clothing bank out in the cold.

Shelter Ministries is still searching for a new home, and in the meantime, the shelter's services have been shut down.

"In August, we were told we'd have to move out of the building," said Shelter Ministries Executive Director Joe Laher. "It's been our home for a long time, and people know where we are."

For ten years, the shelter's food and clothing bank occupied part of the first floor inside the old school building. Due to the increased costs needed to keep up with the aging facility, the DeKalb County School Board made the decision to demolish it.

Laher says the shelter had to vacate the building by the beginning of October. Because of the transition, the shelter's services have been unavailable for the past three weeks.

"People have been calling our office, asking when are you guys going to be open again, and we're trying to be open once again, and we're trying to get open as soon as we can," Laher told NewsChannel 15.

Laher says it's been a big problem, considering the number of families coming in for help is up.

"Last month we had 65 new families come to the food bank for the first time, in the month of September," explained Laher. "And the month before that we had 59. We're seeing more people in need as the economy continues to shrink. We see unemployment around DeKalb County around 14 percent."

According to Laher, the shelter's managed to find a new home for it's food bank. A former laundromat a couple miles south of the old location at 2100 Wayne Street will soon be open.

But, it's not enough space to house the clothing bank too. Laher says that's still closed until further notice.

The food bank should be open by next Monday.

For more information, or if you can help Shelter Ministries find space for the clothing bank, call 260-925-9200.