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City Council eases restrictions on cold weather shelters in Waynesboro

Crystal Graham
homeless man
(© Photographee.eu – stock.adobe.com)

The Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry got some good news this week from the Office of Community Development.

Waynesboro City Council voted Monday night to ease some of the restrictions of their cold weather shelter when it is hosted in the River City.

In December, the organization was forced to turn away homeless individuals due to a lack of staffing and requirements by the city to have a certain number of people at the location to keep it open. WARM was able to keep the main shelter open at the time but wasn’t able to open the overflow location.

With the flu, RSV, colds and COVID-19 still prevalent in the area, staff and volunteers are sometimes unavailable to assist at the shelters.

The amendment modifies the guidelines to allow WARM to operate its shelters with fewer staff members according to Edwards, the acting executive director for WARM.

The changes definitely signal progress, Edwards said.

“It shows that the City of Waynesboro is willing to work with WARM when we request a conversation on restrictions,” Edwards said. “WARM hopes that this collaboration is an example of future cooperation between WARM and the city to ease the restrictions on WARM’s mission to serve Waynesboro’s unsheltered men and women.”

The cold weather shelters are offered in locations in Waynesboro and Augusta County through Easter.

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Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is the regional editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of Virginia Tonight, a nightly TV news show on PBS. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television.