Code Purple at the Cape is opening its second men’s shelter, and third overall homeless shelter.
Code Purple at the Cape will open an additional men’s shelter in Bethany Beach at the Bethany Beach Christian Church on North Pennsylvania Avenue.
That gives the group three total shelters, including another men’s shelter in Lewes and a women’s shelter in Rehoboth Beach. Site director Mike Agnew says creating more capacity was done out of necessity.
“The demand for men getting into shelter in the wintertime exceeded our ability to take them at St. Jude. We have the fire marshal code limit, 14 beds in the shelter- that’s a statewide limit. And so, we were looking for a second place.” he said.
Agnew says the search for a new site wasn’t easy, but they eventually came to Bethany Christian Church.
Agnew says they provided nearly 3,500 overnight stays last season, and will likely do even more this year.
“We had a lot on the waiting list last year. It’s very difficult to manage the situation when you’re limited to 14 and there’s still more than 14 men outside in freezing cold weather. So, very often we had to do what’s called at fodge. In other words, we had to have one of our volunteers stay awake all night.” he said.
He notes with the new shelter, he hopes staff all-nighters will no longer be necessary.
Agnew says Code Purple at the Cape will hold two information nights- one on November 9th in St. Anne’s Parish in Rehoboth and one on the 10th at St. Jude Church in Lewes, for those interested in volunteering.
He adds you can also sign up online on their website.
All three shelters are set to open for the winter season on December 1st, and will close March 15th.
