A safe space

I would like to see government officials come and walk with us, and see how what they are doing impacts us here. It should be part of their training.”

Eric McKeown

When the night is closing in, and the winds blow harder, a cot with fresh clean bedding and a roof over one’s head can mean a lot, even if just overnight.

Safe Space at 420 Roy St. in St. Paul provides just that. A place to get a hot shower and a good night’s rest.
“We are open late at night, after all the other shelters close,” said Yer Xiong, Safe Space shelter manager. “We are the last stop.”

The shelter, which offers 25 beds for women and 39 beds for men, is open to adults 19 and older. Safe Space opens at 9 p.m. each night, and closes around 9 a.m. each morning.

By the time the shelter opens at 9 p.m., a list of referrals has been provided by Ramsey County, according to Xiong. “People start lining up around 8 p.m.,” she noted. “Not all of our guests show up, so if there are extra beds available after 9:30, we will take walk-ins”

Xiong said Safe Space originally started out as a warming space in winter. “Ramsey County noticed there were still so many unsheltered individuals, and it became a steady need, so we opened year round. The shelter space was first located in downtown St. Paul, and about a year and a half ago moved to its present location. Model Cities took over the shelter’s operation in 2019 and leases the space from Central Baptist Church.”

Xiong stepped into her position three years ago, and said her role is to make sure all the staff are trained, and that the shelter is open every night and has available beds.

‘WE DO A LOT OF LAUNDRY’
Each night at 9 p.m. guests check in and register. They put their belongings in storage, shower and choose a bed. Xiong said the next morning, they put their bedclothes in a space to be washed, get a drink and a bag lunch for the day before they leave the premises.

“We do a lot of laundry,” she said. Individuals can come back and stay the next night if they are on the registration list provided by the county.

Regarding the recent surge by ICE, Xiong said it is difficult to tell if that has specifically affected the shelter’s numbers. “Our numbers are sometimes a little lower, but Ramsey County has other spaces available. If someone wants to stay up all night, they might go to a different shelter. This is a place to sleep and get a good night’s rest.”

She said there have been more new faces at Safe Space, with people coming over from Minneapolis and several coming from down south. “We also are seeing more of a younger crowd,” Xiong added. She said the shelter is near the light rail, so it is easily accessible for people.

Xiong said the shelter does not have a lot of extra services, but works with an organization called The Drawer to provide guests with socks and underwear, if needed. The shelter relies on donations to help guests and tries to provide a list of various resources for people.

“We do whatever we can to make our guests feel more comfortable,” Xiong said.

60 YEARS
Erica McKeown is the director of shelter and housing programs for Model Cities, 839 University Ave., St. Paul. She started her position last May.

Model Cities has been around for 60 years and has the shelter, supportive housing units, housing vouchers for single families and offers help with purchasing a home.

“Model cities has always been concerned with supportive housing,” McKeown said. “Safe Space is one of our big departments.”

McKeown said Central Baptist provides utilities for the shelter and helps fund raise for clothing or other needs, but Model Cities is responsible for the operation of Safe Space.

Model Cities provides financial education and home ownership education, which is available to anyone, regardless of economic status. “We can help you raise your credit score,” McKeown said. “Everyone deserves housing.”

She said, “Model Cities is also starting a pilot program where we can follow someone from beginning to end, if they start in the overnight shelter, then get supportive housing and eventually purchase a home.”

McKeown said Model Cities is working to dispel the myth that homes are not affordable by demonstrating through education that housing purchases are possible.

SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY IN MIDWAY
One of the goals of the shelter is to be able to keep it open 24 hours a day, but that is a ways down the road, remarked McKeown. “The more services that we can provide, the better. We do partner with places to help provide supplies. A former CEO of Model Cities works with a program that brings us bag lunches. The community has been really supportive.”

According to McKeown, there have been no instances involving ICE at the shelter, but guests have expressed feelings of anxiety and tension. “It’s more of an emotional response,” she said.

The shelter has kept its doors locked and put together a protocol on how to respond if approached by ICE.

CHALLENGE TO BUILD TRUST
McKeown related that there is not enough housing for homeless individuals in the community. “Funding has been cut in many different ways. For example, Section 8 vouchers are on hold. Everyone feels stuck. There are less apartments available, and wages do not match expenses.

“I would like to see government officials come and walk with us, and see how what they are doing impacts us here. It should be a part of their training.”

In her role as director, McKeown oversees two housing case managers and the shelter staff.

She has been doing human services work for 20 years“I come from an advocacy-driven family. I have worked with criminals and victims of sex trafficking,“ she said.

“The biggest challenge is the trust level in marginalized communities, the willingness to trust. People are not sticking around long enough to build that trust.”

McKeown pointed to the small and large successes that come with the territory of working with housing programs.

“We had one young woman who just has paid her first rent check. She said ‘I don’t like it, but I know it’s something I have to do.’”

She said an even bigger success was the person who fled from domestic violence in Arkansas and started out at the overnight shelter. Today she is looking at purchasing her own home.

“We have people who have lived the experience, and they do such a great job of understanding the depths of what is really going on,” said McKeown.”They are finding the issues and helping people be successful.”