BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – When Pine Haven Shelter closed, many wondered what had become of its residents and how they would manage to survive.
Some say concerns about squatting in vacant homes were already present even before the shelter shut down.
“Not anything from the city officials, not anything from the police department, that things are worse now that the homeless shelter’s shut down,” said Mayor Ryan Neal, adding that there are options when the weather turns cold. “Our city has a lot of things in place: HUD housing, Salvation Army, to help people get housing and things like that.”
Why someone ends up on the street and struggling is personal — they each have a different story.
“Some of them don’t want to be helped,” the mayor said. “I mean, a lot of them have been helped. There’s a lot of great success stories out there, too, but it’s up to each individual to make that choice to change their behavior and want to better themselves.”
Despite all our progress, it will still take more to change the trajectory of Beckley and the Mountain State.
“You get one chance at life,” said Neal. “I would hope everybody would wake up in the morning and say, ‘I don’t want to be on the wrong side of that statistic.'”
It was often said that people from other communities and states were sent to Beckley because it had a homeless shelter there.
“Can’t use that anymore now that Beckley does not have a homeless shelter, so why would somebody agree to bus somebody an hour away into Beckley?” the mayor said, adding that Lewisburg is a nice town, but Beckley’s a lot larger. “And just like Charleston’s a lot bigger than Beckley. I’m sure they have more homeless and transients than Beckley does. It’s part of just being a bigger city than Lewisburg.”
There are a myriad of programs and people in the Gateway to Southern West Virginia who offer support and want to see you get better.
“I think Beckley is a very compassionate town. I really do. There are a lot of people willing to help, a lot of people like me who root for people,” said Neal. “We want to hear success stories. You want to hear people overcome adversity, but people have to take that first step.”
RESOURCES
The Salvation Army (daytime warming center during extreme cold weather events in addition to their regular operations)
2871 Robert C Byrd Dr, Beckley, WV 25801
304-253-9541
Beckley Day Center
208 Main Street Sublevel, Beckley
304-222-9837
Beckley Warming Center
Beckley Community United Methodist Church (Fellowship Hall)
217 South Heber Street, Beckley
United Way of Southern West Virginia
110 Croft St, Beckley
304-253-2111 ext 102
Dial 211 or text ZIP code to 898-211
To connect with local resources and up-to-date information on available shelters and food pantries
