BEMIDJI — Native musicians will take the stage at Brigid’s Pub subsequent week to assist elevate consciousness and cash for the homeless.
“House for the Holidays,” a fundraiser for the Anonymous Coalition for the Homeless, is scheduled for 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 30. It is going to characteristic The Occasionals, Doyle Turner, Corey Medina and Brothers, Brock Beaulieu, Caige Jambor, Sawyer Corcoran, Kristi Miller, Sonny Johnson, Kitchi Boogie and Dan Will.
A silent public sale and door prize additionally will likely be a part of the occasion.
“The fundraising that we’re doing is two-pronged,” mentioned Reed Olson, government director of the group. “We’re fundraising concurrently for some operational {dollars} and likewise elevating funds for our renovation challenge on the New Day Middle.”
Jillian Gandsey / Bemidji Pioneer
The Anonymous Coalition’s Wolfe Middle at 522 America Ave. NW is in its eighth 12 months of operation. It’s open from 8 p.m. to eight a.m. each day from mid-September via Might.
It additionally operates the New Day Middle at 722 fifteenth St. NW from 8 a.m. to eight p.m. each day. That facility opened on Dec. 23, 2021,
after being donated to the Anonymous Coalition by Sanford Well being of Northern Minnesota.
“It was my aim to open in time for Christmas and to ensure that no person in Bemidji was exterior on Christmas Day,” Olson mentioned.
The group lately obtained a grant from the Minnesota Division of Employment and Financial Improvement to make enhancements to the New Day Middle.
“We want a wheelchair elevate, we’d like showers and a laundry facility,” Olson mentioned. “These aren’t bells and whistles. We simply must make the constructing perform just a little higher.”
Olson mentioned the Wolfe is housing much more folks than it did throughout final winter’s record-setting 12 months.
“We’re so busy proper now,” he mentioned. “We’re seeing about 20 to 25 folks an evening, which is admittedly brushing up towards our most capability there. Final 12 months we had 3,700 night time stays on the Wolfe. This 12 months we’re on tempo to interrupt that file, which isn’t what we need to do.”
He mentioned it’s simply as busy on the New Day Middle, though it’s harder to trace numbers there.
“Individuals sort of come and go just a little extra, and we don’t need to have a mattress for everyone, so we will accommodate much more folks,” Olson mentioned. “However boy, it’s actually nerve-racking for us.”
The Anonymous Coalition strives to assist homeless folks discover the companies they want.
“They belief us, so we sort of work as a matchmaker,” Olson mentioned. “That is our eighth season working, and I don’t assume there are multiple or two people who find themselves with us now who we noticed 4 years in the past.”
He added that although they proceed to serve a big inhabitants, it’s not the identical people.
“Individuals fall into homelessness, then they discover themselves at our doorways. We attempt to assist them discover companies,” Olson mentioned. “As a result of we’re not household and we’re not caseworkers, we don’t at all times know precisely the place folks find yourself. That’s sort of a bummer.
“For one factor, we wish to have the ability to present the affect that we’re making. But additionally we simply care in regards to the folks and we would like to know that they’re OK and located their approach to a greater place.”
