Juneau’s homeless shelter is once again offering daytime meals and other services after stopping them in August due to safety concerns.
The Glory Hall’s Executive Director Kaia Quinto said there were multiple instances of violence and threats this summer that put the safety of shelter staff and clients at risk. She said it was getting harder to continue serving the community at all.
“The reason why we closed day services was because the environment outside on Teal Street was just pretty dangerous and chaotic,” Quinto said. “Which then transferred inside of the facility, made the facility dangerous and chaotic.”
The shelter closed its doors to people who didn’t already have an assigned bed there, with a few exceptions.
In November, the city again cleared the encampment that had built up outside the shelter, and people haven’t set up there again. The shelter renovated its entrance to have a two-door system, instead of one, allowing staff more control of who’s allowed inside.
Quinto said things calmed down enough to open services safely Tuesday morning.
“With the encampment moved and the temperature and the weather and our improvements made to the front of the building, we’re feeling pretty confident about opening day services now,” she said.
It’s only been a couple of days, but Quinto said people are using the services.
And the reopening comes at a good time — Juneau is expected to see single digit and below zero temperatures this week and into next.
The Glory Hall serves meals at 8:30 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. each day. The city-funded emergency warming shelter near Thane Road opens at 9 p.m. each night until 7 a.m. in the morning, and offers transportation to the Glory Hall.
