The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

October 3, 2008

No decision reached for shelter relocation

Theresa House for the homeless still needs a home of its own

By Brian Ojanpa

MANKATO — Officials of Theresa House are hoping new quarters for the homeless shelter can be found by the end of the month.

A public meeting attended by 30 to 40 people Thursday laid out that scenario but didn’t produce any concrete results.

“A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, and that night was the first step,” said Theresa House Director Pam Bartholomew.

The 12-year-old shelter, operated by St. Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church, must move because its space is needed for the church religious order’s new seminary program that has grown faster than anticipated.

Bartholomew said potential availabilities at the moment include a five-bedroom house and a building housing condo units.

She said a new facility must be accessible to the handicapped, ideally would have 36 beds (the existing facility has 18) and an outdoor play area for children.

The Institute of the Incarnate Word, the order of priests that has taken over for the departed Jesuits, operates the Theresa House building across the street from the church.

Seminarians share the building space, and plans had been made to accommodate a maximum of nine students. But when 12 applied, and all met the seminary’s requirements, the space dilemma was created.

Seminarians must be lodged on the parish campus, while Theresa House, it was decided, is not dependent upon a specific location.

Theresa House provides emergency shelter and transitional housing to families and single women.

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