Boise Weekly

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Boise Rescue Mission Dedicates New Shelter

Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 3:44 PM

City Light Guest House

The Boise Rescue Mission dedicated a new, 58-bed women's and children's shelter this morning, to accommodate the overflow they have seen all year at the City Light Home for Women and Children across the street.

The new shelter, called City Light Guest House, 1417 W. Jefferson, is in what was once a parking area for the apartments above. The Mission fully renovated the space with mostly donated labor and materials.

“Women with children have been the fastest growing population of homeless people over the past decade. With the economic situation as it is we have seen that number rise even faster. For the past several months, we have had up to 46 women and kids sleeping on the floor at City Light. In order to be sure we can meet this growing need, and to better accommodate the women and kids we’re serving, we are pleased to accomplish this project,” said Mission director Bill Roscoe.

Mission residents Lavern Powe and Randy Marlette, Jr. provide security at the ribbon cutting.

Mission residents Lavern Powe and Randy Marlette, Jr. provide security at the ribbon cutting.

The Mission also installed 82 new beds its men's shelter on 13th Street. All the new beds are a step toward filling the shortage of beds for homeless people in Boise, but the Mission is clearly not on board with homeless folks who sued the Boise Police Department for harassment a few weeks ago.

BPD Chief Mike Masterson, with Mission Director Bill Roscoe

Roscoe effusively introduced Boise Police Chief Michael Masterson, calling BPD the "finest and most compassionate" police force. Masterson avoided the topic of the lawsuit altogether, talking about volunteering at the Mission and officers handing out meal tickets.

We waited a while to ask Roscoe, who has not returned several calls from BW for several days now, and Masterson, about the city's anti-camping policy, but the list of donors Roscoe needed to thank took a very long time.
- Jean Lockhard, director of City Light, in the new shelter.