St. Cloud Restores Operating Licenses For Lincoln Center Homeless Shelter

(KNSI) – The Lincoln Center Homeless Shelter has reopened to both day and overnight guests.

The building was granted a food service license by the City of St. Cloud back on November 18th, and its full license was reinstated on November 28th. Housing Resources Navigator Scarlett Rusch says it is not yet up to full capacity.

“We are approved for up to 25 residents. At this time, we’ve only in-taken 12, though, because we are under a requirement with the city to have one staff member per two residents.”

The day shelter runs from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Rusch says guests can come in and warm up, which is important now that the temperature is dropping. They can grab a meal at Lincoln Center or pick up food to-go.

Rusch says Lincoln Center has made significant changes to how it operates. There are more stringent requirements for guests at the shelter. “From my understanding, the city of St Cloud has a 45-day limit. So, we are prioritizing anyone within our building to get them through the Central Minnesota Coordinated Entry System because they also help find them places, getting them to chemical dependency assessment if they need it.”

Rusch says Lincoln Center requires life plans for those at its shelter. That means they must undergo anger management, chemical dependency, or mental health treatments so they can transition into a more permanent living situation beyond the month-and-a-half they are allowed to be at the shelter.

Some facility improvements include a new three-partition sink in the kitchen area and revamped living quarters.