Belleville Cathedral to host overnight shelter for homeless

The Cathedral of St. Peter will host one of dozens of events across the nation for the fifth annual National Homeless Persons’ Memorial on Monday. The occasion remembers those who have died from the elements without shelter in the past year.

The memorial begins at 5:30 p.m. with a meal of soup and bread for the homeless in the school cafeteria, followed by a short prayer service outside at 7 p.m. and a candlelight procession, which is open to the public.

“The event points to a need for a place for the homeless,” said Monsignor John Myler of the Diocese of Belleville.

The town has been without a homeless shelter since 2009, when the Salvation Army shut its one down.

The church will be open overnight until 7 a.m. Tuesday and will provide homeless people with cots, showers, a midnight snack, a Christmas-themed movie or two and breakfast in the morning.

It is unknown how many homeless people in St. Clair County have died in the past year. The county coroner’s office and the public health department do not keep those records.

Myler said St. Peter’s does not have the resources to operate a homeless shelter year-round, but he hopes the memorial will show that Belleville needs a permanent solution to help those in need.

The lack of a shelter, he thought, was “a mark against our beautiful city.”

Neither he nor Jesse Arms, a local advocate for the homeless, had any expectations about the number of homeless people they expected Monday night. Part of the reason, Arms said, was that it is difficult to find people to invite, because there is “no central place where homeless people feel safe at night.” She is relying on word of mouth and has been posting leaflets at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and the Salvation Army food pantry to publicize the event.

But St. Peter’s would be ready, Myler said, whether four, 14, or 40 people show up.

The National Coalition for the Homeless scheduled the event on Dec. 21, the winter solstice and the longest night of the year. In 2013, 150 cities participated in the event, according to the coalition, though in 2014, only 80 cities participated. Arms said the steep drop-off was due to an illness the coalition’s leader had and does not reflect a shrinking need for services for the homeless.

Myler said he hopes the memorial will put a human face on homelessness. St. Peter’s accommodation coincides with the Catholic Church’s Year of Mercy, which Pope Francis inaugurated on Dec. 13 and lasts through Nov. 13, 2016.

The National Weather Service forecasts the temperature on Monday to dip to 36 degrees.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Belleville Cathedral to host overnight shelter for homeless."