Four shelters in the Fargo-Moorhead area provide homeless people with a place to stay, but many times they're full.
Last month, Moorhead's United Churches for the Homeless turned away 74 single men, three single women and 11 families with 14 children, said Gary Groberg, the shelter's executive director.
Groberg was one of the speakers at the Fargo Moorhead Area Foundation's first community briefing Tuesday at Fargo's Avalon Events Center.
The foundation, which funds organizations such as Churches United, held the briefing to make area residents more aware of the community's needs, said Stacey Tronson, the foundation's donor services director.
From September 2001 to December 2002, the YWCA of Fargo-Moorhead rejected 1,400 shelter requests from women and children, said volunteer Willy Jacobson.
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Directors from both the YWCA and Churches United said they need more space for short-term and longer-term transitional housing.
About 40 percent of women who stay at the YWCA's shelter return to the shelter, said director Marcia Paulson.
"We can't be a revolving door," she said.
If the shelter had more transitional housing, women would have a better chance of being self-sufficient, Paulson said.
Both the YWCA and Churches United are preparing for moves into bigger buildings that are outfitted with more appropriate family rooms.
As is, "our shelter is not family friendly," Groberg said.
Men, women and families share the same space. Parents have to keep kids in eye distance at all times, which can be problematic, he said.
With the new structure, families will have their own space and kids will have a playground, "so for an hour, they can stop being homeless and just be kids," Groberg said.
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Most of the people seeking refuge at the YWCA and Churches United are from the region, both agencies said.
Of the 885 women and children who stayed at the YWCA last year, 61 percent were from Cass and Clay counties, the YWCA reported.
Last year, 54 percent of the people who stayed at Churches United were from the Fargo-Moorhead area and 75 percent were from Minnesota or North Dakota, Groberg said.
The primary reason women seek shelter at the YWCA is safety from domestic abuse, Paulson said.
Aside from not having a safe place to stay, many victims have other issues they're dealing with such as drug afflictions, mental illness or poverty, she said.
The needs of the community "are very important things and not necessarily things we think about every day," Tronson said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Lisa Schneider at (701) 241-5529
