Out of the Cold: Centre County will welcome community members to a series of open houses as it gets ready to open its first permanent overnight shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
Open house events will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, 5-7 p.m. Monday and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the shelter, located at 318 S. Atherton St. in State College.
With renovations to the building complete, the nonprofit organization plans to begin move-in for overnight guests on Sept. 5. The shelter will provide housing for 28 people at a time.
Since its founding in 2011, Out of the Cold has rotated its overnight shelter among more than a dozen participating faith congregations, with a new location every two to four weeks for guests to have a place to sleep and a hot meal. In 2022-23, 17 congregations helped provide shelter for more than 175 people, according to the organization’s website.
In 2020, Out of the Cold began leasing space at The Meetinghouse on Atherton for a day shelter operating from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and providing basic case management and resources. The property’s owner offered to sell it to Out of the Cold later that year, and after raising the needed funds, including $234,000 from State College Borough’s Community Development Block Grant funding for housing programs, and a minor zoning map change, the organization completed the purchase in December 2021.
“It’s something that this county has long looked forward to being able to bring to fruition, that is a low-barrier shelter where persons in this community who are experiencing homelessness can find a place of rest,” Phil Jones, Out of the Cold executive committee member, said in 2021.
The property at 318 S. Atherton St. was built in 1927 by the Quaker community in State College and was expanded over the ensuing decades. It has often been home to various small churches, and prior to Out of the Cold’s acquisition, housed Taproot Kitchen, the nonprofit culinary venture that provides opportunities to young adults with autism and intellectual disabilities.
Taproot co-founder and former Meetinghouse owner Sarah Schafer said in 2021 that the culinary nonprofit had outgrown the space and was no longer using it for anything but storage. She felt Out of the Cold represented an appropriate next owner of the building that has a tradition as a community center.
“I just believe [Out of the Cold is] a real asset to the community, providing a place for people who really need the support they’re providing, which is pretty phenomenal,’ she said at the time. “It’s a good location. They’ve really struggled to find the right place and this does seem like the right place… I think that our community would benefit most from a homeless shelter in that location.”
