Community Missions 24-hour shelter opening soon 

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- The transition from cold weather housing to a 24-hour facility is moving forward at a St. Joseph homeless shelter. 

Community Missions at 700 Olive St. recently announced the upcoming opening of its 24-hour shelter that has been in the works for months.  

“We're waiting on contracts for stakeholders that have decided to really help us with this mission to make this possible for our community,” Executive Director Rachael Bittiker said. 

Community Missions received $200,000 from Buchanan County and Mosaic Life Care to go toward the 24-hour shelter and provide resources for the homeless community.

Staff at Community Missions have posted jobs they are seeking to fill for the 24-hour shelter. They are seeking applicants for 11 positions. 

“We’re looking for a shelter director, we’re looking for case managers that are full time and then staff that help the day move and night move how they’re supposed to be,” Bittiker said. 

Shelter staff visited City Union Mission, a 24-hour shelter in Kansas City, to see how they serve their population and where they found success.  

“We want to make sure if there's anything that needs to be tweaked, (that) we do it,” Bittiker said. “And if there’s something that we can do better that someone else is doing and they’re having good results, we can implement that into our 24-hour shelter as well.” 

There are rules visitors will follow at the shelter when it opens, including an accountability factor to make sure guests are getting the help they need. 

“The expectation is going to be set forth,” Bittiker said. “It’s not an option to not meet with the case manager. If you want to be here, you’re going to actively participate in the programs we have because we want you to do better.”  

Before the 24-hour shelter opens, shelter staff want to make sure funding is secured, jobs are filled, shelter handbooks are reviewed and they have a system in place that records the basic demographics of its visitors. 

“We're getting all of those things up and ready to be prepared,” Bittiker said. “So when it's time to launch, every staff is trained, every staff knows what their role is, what the expectations are.”