ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – The Life House Women’s Shelter in Rock Hill which opened last year to provides shelter for women year round, getting the green light from city officials to convert an unused building into an overflow shelter.
Right now leaders with Life House say they are housing more than a dozen women a night at their temporary overflow center located at Park Baptist Church in Rock Hill.
On March 12th that partnership will end and now with the new space, these women will soon have a place to go.
The empty 3,000 square foot space connected to Pathways Community Center in Rock Hill is now a creative canvas for Courtney Denton with The Life House Women’s Shelter.
Denton says she and her team have been working for months to get the permanent space after working to get approval from the city.
“We had to apply for a special exception to sleep more people on site”, says Denton.
That special exception was approved last week.
Center Director for Pathways Community Center, Alex Greenawalt says with the organization having 15 agencies on site, having women who may need some help so close by will be a chance to reach more ladies.
“When those women wake up they are at the spot that they need to be to get themselves whole”, says Greenawalt.
Denton says the list to get the space ready for women is long, including a sprinkler system, paint, remodeling the bathrooms and more, it could be 3 to five months before women can actually stay in the space.
“We are really committed to try and figure out a way to bridge this gap while we get this space available. So if there’s a church in our community that would like to do what Park Baptist has done for 3 months or even 6 months, that would ensure that we don’t have a gap in the process”, says Denton.
Denton says they are grateful to Park Baptist and the pastor allowing them to use their space through the cold season.
I any other church or organization would like to volunteer space to help them for the next several months until renovations are complete just reach out to Courtney by visiting https://www.facebook.com/thelifehousewomensshelter
Courtney adds there will also be financial needs and volunteer opportunities.
Also a part of that rezoning, Bethel Men’s Shelter is approved to use its day shelter as a second overflow space if needed.
