A homeless shelter in Springfield might soon have to partially shut down due to the more than six-month-old state budget impasse.
"Our board is having to look at the tough question of how to stay alive with the money we currently have," Rod Lane, executive director at Helping Hands of Springfield, told the State Journal-Register. "It could result in a partial shutdown within the next couple of weeks."
Helping Hands of Springfield depends on state grant funding to operate its shelter, which includes 42 beds, and its warming center. The warming center provides a place to sleep for as many as 50 adults. The organization's daytime shelter hours plus its case management services are at risk due to the budget impasse. Several staffers could also face layoffs.
"I expected a budget to be passed by now," Lane added. "We're starving on an island. Due to having no state funds available to us ... our board is having to make the tough decisions of what it looks like to retain or even eliminate certain services we provide."