With overnight temperatures forecast to fall into the single digits this weekend, the Lawrence Community Building Shelter is looking for volunteers to help keep the shelter open. To keep the free, temporary shelter at the Community Building running, the City of Lawrence is in need of dozens of volunteers. Without them, the shelter may be forced to close. Dozens of people experiencing homelessness have been living unsheltered outdoors. Many have been staying in encampments near the Kansas River. Others are camping or car camping, at Clinton Lake State Park. The City and volunteers have taken on the responsibility of Emergency Winter Shelter services, following reductions in capacity at the Lawrence Community Shelter in 2019.
The LCS has the capacity to serve 125 people most of the time and 140 people during the Winter, but it has been housing only a maximum of 40 people at its building in eastern Lawrence during the coronavirus pandemic, so that it could space out guests and have room to quarantine guests as necessary. This fall, the Lawrence City Commission voted to suspend certain City Codes to enable the City to use the Community Building and the East Lawrence Recreation Center.
