Sunflower County is not the only entity in the transitional shelter business these days.
Washington County-based Sacred Space Inc., at the request of District 3 Supervisor Ben Gaston, made a presentation to the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors on Monday regarding their plans for a homeless transitional shelter and feeding program in Greenville.
Wesley Brown, along with five other board members from Sacred Space, addressed the board.
Brown said Sacred Space has closed on the 18,000-square-foot former Salvation Army building on Broadway in Greenville.
“We believe God put us together to serve the least, the lost and the left behind,” Brown said.
Brown said they are looking to open the transitional shelter soon, which will have other elements, mostly faith-based, including a feeding program for the hungry and a 30-day program, “that hopefully will change their lives.”
“I can assure you that Sacred Space Inc. will be biblically led,” Brown said.
Gaston quizzed Brown on the organization’s business plan.
“One of the reasons I gave you a call and asked you to come down here is we’re considering putting in a transitional shelter here. Do y’all depend on grants or anything to operate?” he asked.
“We’re hoping to get those,” Brown responded.
Board member Chad Bryant said the organization was open to working with neighboring counties.
“If y’all want to support us, we want to support Sunflower County,” he said. “In turn, God is moving forward with this project. We’re investors in this, and he has blessed us abundantly. God’s people are moving in a mighty, mighty way, and we’re giving y’all the chance, the opportunity, for Sunflower County to get on board.”
District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald told Brown and Sacred Space about Sunflower County’s current plans for constructing a shelter and having Sunflower County Ministerial Alliance & Counseling Services operate it.
“They are going to be running this ministry for us,” Donald said. “We are going to be using ARPA funds and we’re going to construct a 4,300-square-foot metal building. SCMACS is going to run it for us…Not only is the county building this building, but the county is allotting $40,000 a year to SCMACS to run it.”
The county has pledged several hundred thousand dollars to the project and is currently seeking supplemental funds from the state to see it through.
Initial bids for the project came in at over $600,000 for construction.
