On Saturday, Salvation Army Lt. Lance Walters was operating on about three hours sleep, after frantically setting up an emergency warming shelter for the tenants displaced when the Bergmann Hotel was boarded up Friday afternoon.
That first night, Walters said, the center did not get that many takers. About 15 people showed up and ate dinner, but most of those dispersed to bed down with friends or family members. Seven ended up spending the night, he said.
But by Sunday night, with snow falling, about a dozen took advantage of the cots that stood waiting; 14 showed up Monday.
[PHOTOS: Evicted from the Bergmann and now homeless]
Michael Nelson and Ruth Baz were some of the handful of Bergmann residents who stayed the center Monday night. Both stayed with friends and family initially, they said.
Baz said she didn’t know about the pending action by the city until Friday, from another tenant while she was downtown.
The hotel management “didn’t tell me nothing,” she said. “I got what I could (out of my room).”
“I didn’t have much, anyway,” Baz added.
“They (the police) ran us out,” Nelson said. “They were on all three floors, knocking on doors.”
Nelson said he had been at the Bergmann for about five months and had been paying $700 for his room. He said the hotel was “better than sleeping outside,” adding there had been a period of time when there were a lot of fights and partying, but the management stopped the problems.
When asked what they were going to do once the warming center closed, neither had a concrete plan.
“I don’t know,” Baz said.
“We’re going to try to find a place,” Nelson said, more optimistically.
One option, although not ideal, will be the Glory Hole, as long as people can meet their requirements.
“We’re not going to turn someone away, even if they have to sleep on the floor,” said outreach coordinator/housing specialist Trevor Kellar.
Testing out a new warming center
The Bergmann was condemned by the City and Borough of Juneau after the owner failed to address outstanding fire and building code violations. City officials said the tenants were in imminent danger, in part due to reported high levels of carbon monoxide detected in the basement.
[Tenants kicked out of ‘unsafe’ Bergmann hotel, manager arrested]
The Salvation Army, located at 439 Willoughby Ave., had already been working toward opening a warming center on days below 25 degrees with a goal to eventually expand operations to below 32 degrees.
“We had been asking a lot of questions, we wanted to do it right, so that it wouldn’t fall apart, with volunteers and resources in place,” Walters said.
The closing of the Bergmann did accelerate the process, he added.
“When we heard Thursday afternoon that the possibility was there (that the city was closing down the Bergmann), we started to make preparations,” Walters said, with volunteers pitching in to prepare food, for example.
”Juneau is a pretty amazing place; the community wants to help each other out,” he continued. “Even today, a lady called to ask if there was anything we needed, and my wife said coffee, so she brought it by. What a blessing.”
Originally, the center was planned to be open through Monday night, but was extended one more night due to the continuing snow. Walters said the hope is that the Bergmann tenants will have the opportunity to meet with agencies and find a place to live, “at least for a while.”
Not everyone who is staying at the warming center is from the Bergmann.
“We have cots, we’re here, we’re open and we have volunteers, for now,” Walter said. “People are coming in, enjoying something warm to drink, and snacks. More are coming in to get out of the cold, and then taking off. Someone brought in pizza last night.”
There have been a few hiccups, with one or two people kicked out for misbehaving. Walters suspects that someone barred from the center Monday night vandalized his vehicle, but he said that was not going to deter him from his mission.
There are no immediate plans to re-open the warming center, Walters said. His current focus is on acquiring more approved volunteers.
“That way we don’t have to be here all the time,” he said. “We can’t function on no sleep.”
To become approved, applicants have to go through a pretty extensive process, with business and professional references required, along with a background check and an online training.
As of Saturday night, Walters only had one approved volunteer, but was working his way through several applications.
“My hope is, if everything comes together, it would take a week to 10 days” to get more approved, he said.
Certainly if Juneau has another cold spell and the Salvation Army gets enough volunteers, the warming center could make a comeback.
Otherwise, Walters said, “If we go forward with this next year, we’ll need funding.”
Want to help?
To get involved, contact Walters at lance.walters@usw.salvationarmy.org or call 586-2136. To contribute monetary donations, go to http://juneau.salvationarmy.org/, http://bit.ly/2mbT2rL or text HELPJUNEAU to 51555.
—
Disclosure: Reporter Liz Kellar has a familial relation with a person quoted in this article, Trevor Kellar.
• Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 or liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.
The warming shelter provided by The Salvation Army on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, is located on the bottom level of the church located on Willoughby Avenue. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
