Bemidji Community Officials Concerned with Lack of Shelters Ahead of Winter

As winter approaches, community officials approached the Bemidji Planning Board on Monday about their concerns for the homeless population in the area, as they feel there is not enough shelter space to accommodate them during the winter season.

The Peoples Church, an Indigenous ministry and overnight homeless shelter, is currently not taking in overnight guests due to ongoing inspections, with no set date on when they will be open. Reed Olson, owner of The Wolfe overnight shelter and executive director of the Nameless Coalition for the Homeless, told the Planning Board that there are not enough beds in the area to make up for those in need.

“We have 24 beds; there’s probably 50 to 60 people in the winter on any given night that need shelter, and we just cannot handle—I’m just worried,” said Olson. “We’re fine right now, but as it gets colder, as more people come in out of the woods and seek shelter, we are not going to be able to accommodate everybody. We’ve already lost one person this year to alcohol and weather [conditions]. And our mission is to staunch, to end preventable deaths like that. But we can only do so much as one organization.”

Sherilyn Warren, Bemidji Public Library Branch Manager, also addressed the planning board with her concerns, as the library has become a gathering spot for the homeless throughout the years. While Warren says all are welcome to the library, she is becoming concerned because now some are sleeping in front of the library overnight.

“We haven’t had people sleeping in front of the library [before], and sleeping on our park benches or on benches on the sidewalk,” she said. “I’m not sure why that is or what’s going on there, but there is a significant increase in the homeless population in the city, as I’m sure you’re all aware of. And I just wanted to urge you to be cognizant of that.”

Reed Olson told Lakeland News that he sent a letter to the Bemidji City Council saying that if the Peoples Church is not open before Thanksgiving, he advocates for the establishment of a temporary warming center somewhere within city limits.