Sometimes good things happen quickly.
Tuesday the Northwoods Alliance for Temporary Housing learned the boiler at Frederick Place was failing and wasn’t going to make it another winter. Less than 24 hours later after putting out a call for support, three anonymous donors covered the $20,000 price tag for a new one.
“It genuinely shows us that people are paying attention. People are watching, watching us on a regular basis, and they recognize the value of this community resource in our Northwoods community,” said Executive Director Abbey Dall Lukowski.
Dall Lukowski said Frederick Place averages 12 people at time and can fix a maximum of 16.
Three families alone are expected to arrive at Frederick Place this week as they are losing their housing.
Families and seniors are part of a trend the homeless shelter has seen in the last two years.
For seniors, Dall Lukowski said all it takes is one major medical bill to put someone on a fixed income behind in rent and eventually out of their home.
With the young families, Dall Lukowski says it’s rarely an eviction due to unpaid bills or being bad tenants. In many cases she sees, the house the family lives in is being sold and the family can’t afford to buy it themselves. When they go to look for a two- or three-bedroom home in their price range, none are available.
“The timing just doesn't match, and so they end up homeless for a short period of time,” said Dall Lukowski.
On top of the increase in seniors and families NATH has been seeing, Dall Lukowski knows they will likely see an uptick in singles that may have been living in a tent or otherwise outdoors during the summer months and need somewhere warm for the winter.
And now, thanks to donors who stepped up, Frederick Place will be that warm place.
“We know that we're going to be warm for winter. I could literally cry knowing that we just put a request out, and our folks who are paying attention and watching the work that we do are going, ‘You know what? We have a little extra resource that we can share with you, so let us share it,’” said Dall Lukowski. “Genuinely, I'm so grateful for our community. Our Northwoods neighbors are just wildly impressive. I'm humbled, very humbled.”
Dall Lukowski said she’s grateful to everyone who shared their message.
People can also support Frederick Place by volunteering, joining the board, making meals, or just spreading the word about the work they do. You can learn more at nathnorthwoods.com.
