- Video shows Jackson Interfaith Shelter's Director of Operations, Sheryl Sabo-Grieve, sharing the need of a dedicated-family shelter.
- Sheryl Sabo-Grieve says the current layout of the Interfaith Shelter limits the amount of single women that can be helped in the shelter, due to the space families require.
- She also says that families tend to stay longer, because they face more obstacles when it comes to rebuilding their lives and getting back on track.
- According to the Interfaith Shelter, a dedicated-family shelter would provide more resources, privacy, and a better environment for the children.
- To learn more about this project, click here.
Losing a job, the cost of living, and relocation are all factors that could land a family in a shelter. "When people come in, I know the very basic of how they got here, because I know how I got here," says Sheryl Sabo-Grieve, Director of Operations at the Interfaith Shelter. She knows that experience, because about 25 years ago, she lived there with her 13 year old son. She says, "We're at a point where, because there's so many more obstacles for a family, they're here longer than a single folk."
She says that the shelter's current layout is not conducive to what families need. Therefore, the shelter has launched a capital project to build a new, family-dedicated shelter on the corner of Blackstone and Wesley Street, just down the street from their existing facility.
Rendering courtesy of the Interfaith Shelter
"Because I've been here as a family and worked with all the families and seeing what had been missing, this is a big deal. Just huge," says Sabo-Grieve. This project would be helping families like Jennifer Mercer's, who has been at the shelter for two months with her fiance and two kids. Mercer says a new shelter would be a better environment for kids, because of noise and the ability to cook their own food. "It's better to have another space in a building where everybody has kids and they all know the situation with kids. It's loud. Kids wake up in the middle of the night crying," says Mercer.
Sabo-Grieve says that a family-dedicated shelter would also allow them to provide more family-oriented resources and space. In 2023, they served 64 families, which included 110 children. Each week, according the the shelter, they receive calls from numerous women and families that they cannot take in, due to a lack of space. The Interfaith Shelter is raising funds with the goal of $8 million to help those families in need. "Not only will the parents be supported, the kids will be supported," says Sabo-Grieve.
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
