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Group closes in on fundraising goal for TC homeless shelter

Safe Harbor / http://www.gtsafeharbor.org
Mock up of permanent shelter

 

 

A Traverse City homeless shelter is in the final phase of fundraising and remodeling to open a permanent emergency shelter.

 

Safe Harbor purchased a warehouse from the city last year.

 

The group set a goal of $1.75 million to pay off the warehouse and remodel it. Currently they are shy $250,000.

 

Peter Starkel is the Chairperson of Safe Harbor.

 

He said the permanent shelter will be seasonal, but have a year-round resource center.

 

“The city commission asked us to operate a year round resource center where we would make office space available for our guests and the individual organizations who provide housing assistance, counseling, some of those things.”

 

Starkel said Safe Harbor has more than 2,000 volunteers.

 

“Ultimately we’d love to more than anything, work ourselves out of a job in terms of really reduce the number of people living on a street.”  

 

Starkel said the shelter is on track to raise the remainder of the funds  before Safe Harbor opens in October.