local shelter information

The Pinellas Hope Soft Shelter is scheduled to open Saturday, December 1, with plans to provide intake to 100 people on each of the first two days (Saturday and Sunday). As of this morning, Nov. 19, the street outreach teams in St. Pete, Pinellas Park, Lealman, and Clearwater will be giving 'referral slips ' to individuals the last week in November. Homeless individuals with these slips will go first to Catholic Charities for criminal checks, then on to the Pinellas Hope site. Catholic Charities does not plan to enroll people who just show up at the site, so please pass the word on to your staff members to tell homeless individuals that they should not go out to the site first. They want people to come to the site after 'referral' by the Street Outreach Teams, so that someone has talked to them before they show up; they also want people to use the buses, and not arrive by foot because of all the businesses in the area.