Beckley Common Council hears concerns from residents regarding the planned closure of the Pine Haven Homeless Shelter
By Autumn Shelton, RealWV
BECKLEY, W.Va. – The Pine Haven Homeless Shelter in Beckley is scheduled to close its doors at the end of February, unless financial assistance is received.
Numerous individuals were in attendance at the Tuesday evening Beckley Common Council meeting to speak in favor of finding the money to keep the shelter open.
According to Michael Resare, Beckley city manager, the possible closure of the shelter is a very important concern. He stated that after speaking with those involved in the Raleigh County Commission’s office, the Commission has agreed to add an item to their Feb. 4 agenda about providing funding to keep the shelter open. However, he does have funding concerns for the city of Beckley because there is no lease.
“I’ve been in contact with Mr. [Bill] File (city attorney), we don’t have a lease right now for the homeless shelter,” Resare said. “The attorney in me, the eviction attorney in me, is kind of annoyed by the fact that we don’t have a lease. So, we need to establish a lease. That way we can ensure that the homeless shelter is functioning in compliance with everything in state order. That way we can get the money to them.”
Resare said that the council will work on preparing a lease for review at the next council meeting on Feb. 11.
Following Resare’s comments, members of the public voiced their concerns.
Raleigh County teacher Amanda Inman said that the shelter is the only emergency homeless shelter in 11 counties in southern West Virginia.
“I understand the vital role that it plays,” Inman said. “As a mother and a teacher here in Raleigh County, I know these children, especially the children that are going to be affected by this. I’ve seen them, I’ve taught them, I know them and I know their families.”
Inman said that closing the shelter would be selfish – especially for those who have never experienced homelessness.
“That is your privilege,” Inman said. “If you’ve never experienced it, never been homeless, you don’t know what it’s like.”
She told council members to have empathy, and a “sense of urgency” for those who rely on the shelter.
“If it closes, . . . my students, and students all over the county, are going to lose their beds,” Inman stated. “They’re not going to have meals, and their parents are not going to have the security that they need.”
Another Raleigh County teacher, Chessie Collins, asked council members to consider providing the shelter with any extra funding.
“Just envision, many of you are parents, grandparents, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, your own little ones at five, six, seven years old,” Collins said. “In the evening, maybe when the flurries are starting to come down and it’s not quite freezing, they can’t make it to the church that’s open in the evening, but they’re still cold and holding their mommy or daddy’s hand and wandering the streets.”
Gabriel Covington said that he has experienced homelessness, and that the shelter is a very important resource in the community.
“My spouse was homeless, my mother was homeless and I’ve been homeless a time or two,” Covington said. “As a recovering addict, a lot of the resources that we have in this community depend on . . . the shelter.”
Human rights activist Christina Baisden said that Beckley city officials should focus less on leasing issues.
“We are on a 30 day time frame before the doors shut, and we are caught up on a technicality of a lease?” Baisden stated. “We’ve been through this before with Fruits of Labor. That took two years to get a lease in our hands. You know, don’t let red tape close the doors of our shelter, please.”
In February 2024, the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness announced that funding, usually from state and federal grants, would be cut for the shelter. The Raleigh County Community Action Association’s (RCCAA) Pine Haven Homeless Shelter was scheduled for Tier 3 funding, which only amounted to $125,000 for fiscal year 2025.
The RCCAA offers assistance to those in Raleigh, Fayette, Greenbrier, Summers, Kanawha, Monroe, Mercer, McDowell, Logan, Boone and Nicholas counties. Pine Haven, located at 103 S. Eisenhower Drive in Beckley, is a 150-bed facility that houses men, women, children and families.
