RALEIGH COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – Pine Haven Shelter is set to shut its doors on February 28 — a move that has angered and upset many in the community.
Those locals peacefully protested outside Beckley City Hall, and inside the city council meeting voicing their concerns about the unhoused being cast aside.
“It’s a devastation, honestly. I mean, these people don’t have nowhere to go, no way to keep warm,” said Bobby Hall, a formerly unhoused man in recovery. “What is he expecting people to do? I mean, people are seeking shelter where they can.”
The hurt runs deep for those who advocate keeping Pine Haven Shelter open.
“How are we their constituents if they’re not going to listen to us,” said Community Advocate Gabriel Covington. “For the city council and the mayor — are you going to attend the funerals of people who are going to pass away because of this situation? I mean, it’s a realistic answer. Are you going to help people find another place to stay, and give them food and water?
Amanda Inman says closing the shelter or delaying its closure is selfish of people who might not have ever experienced being unhoused, and that is your privilege.
“I’ve lived it. When I was a child, my mother and I lived out of a car for six months before she found a shelter,” Inman said she knows that fear. “I’m hoping that maybe you could have some empathy and some urgency and some compassion for these individuals.”
A local teacher has been involved with Pine Haven since 2018 in various capacities.
“I realize this is not just a city problem, it’s not just a county problem, it’s not just a state problem,” said Chessie Collins. “But I think if we can all come together, with every little bit we have we can solve the problem.”
Hall was on the streets in Beckley for two years and calls potentially closing Pine Haven a crying shame.
“I stayed there a few nights out of a month each month when I could,” he said. “(Don’t understand) how they could shut down something that means a lot to people, especially when some of them are even trying to get back on their feet.”