GREEN BAY – The Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary has recently expanded their mission of taking in pets in need to offer their services and temporary shelter to the local homeless community amid the frigid temperatures and dangerous cold snap in recent days.
President of the Board of Directors of Safe Haven, Joe Becker, said that he and the rest of the Safe Haven team have been honored to be in a position to help those in need, especially given the assistance from the local community and the various ways they have stepped up to help make this possible.
“Yesterday, CEO and Founder Elizabeth (Feldhausen) got word that the warming shelters are over capacity and were not allowing any more people in. They were making them sit outside in the cold,” said Becker.
“And so, she reached out to her friends in social services and said, ‘Hey. We're open today! Anybody who needs a place to warm up, to get out of the cold, is welcome to come hang out.’ She let us know this is happening, and this is standard. We are Safe Haven, right? We focus on cats with special needs. But Elizabeth has maintained for a very long time that we are a safe haven for anybody who needs a place. Hang out to chill to get inside and out of the cold or to get inside and out of the heat in the summer.”
While temperatures are expected to reach extreme lows of -19 degrees overnight in the coming days, Safe Haven said that its doors are open to anyone seeking shelter and willing to follow their two simple rules.
“The only basic rules are that you’ve got to be nice to each other, and you got to be nice to the cats,” said Becker.
“[Feldhausen] reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, I'm letting the community that supports people without homes know that they can come here and warm up, if they want. Offer them a blanket. If it gets big, we'll figure out something. It didn't get big enough that that had to happen, but she said that we would figure it out if it needed to be.”
Becker said that their efforts have only made this situation possible because of immense help and outreach from local members of the community outside of Safe Haven lending their help and experience.
Cathi Oreto, a local pastor who operates a halfway house, her husband and her assistant Justin, have dedicated their time and experience the last few days to staying overnight at Safe Haven to supervise the temporary shelter and vet anyone involved.
“She brings in people that she trusts and we let them sleep on the couch last night overnight, rather than out on the streets, where the chances of freezing to death in these temperatures is not small. This is legitimately dangerous weather,” said Becker.
“[They] are going to be here supervising, so they'll be here the whole time. You know, that door is going to be secured. Figured out a way to lock it and the other door to the back room is going to be locked. Our furnace runs all night because we’ve got to keep the cats warm. The space is here. We're not putting any investment or any funds or anything extra out.”
Because Safe Haven is dedicated to maintaining and caring for feline friends with special needs, they do have a few resources up their sleeves that make them the perfect location to become a temporary shelter for those seeking warmth.
“We are a safe haven for everyone who needs a place. It's getting cold out there. A cat will warm your heart and your lap, too. Come on in and warm up. All are welcome,” said Becker.
Yet, there are also limitations they will face if they continue to grow in popularity over the next few nights.
“Here, we have a limited space. We have one bathroom, and that's probably the biggest limiting factor. Sure, you know, with air mattresses and sleeping bags, you could probably put 20 or 30 people in here. But, we’ve got one bathroom, and there could be a line and we need to maintain sanitation conditions and all of that stuff, so we're going to be limited. But here we are. We're stepping up,” said Becker.
According to Becker, Safe Haven is proud to offer their space as a sanctuary for those in need, but this situation is intended to me more of a temporary way to lend a helping hand amid the cold snap and permanent shelters being at capacity. Though, Becker also said that it is well within their mission to open their doors if another situation arises where extreme temperatures are putting lives in danger.
“It would be considered again in an emergency situation. I can't see us not doing it again. I don't think it's going to be something that happens on a regular basis, mainly because this really isn't what we are set up for,” said Becker. “Maybe the city will step up and maybe expand the options for people who don't have anywhere else to stay. I would like to see that, but I'm not holding my breath.”
Becker added that while Safe Haven is doing everything they can to help those in need, the local community have been the true heroes, making this a reality.
“The support from our own people and from the community has been incredible. When this was proposed yesterday, we had a couple of group chats we used to communicate amongst ourselves. Nobody said that this is a bad idea. Nobody said this shouldn't happen. A couple people did raise legitimate questions as to, ‘How do we address this part? How do we address that part and again the security of various things?’” said Becker.
“The rest of the community has stepped up. We have dinner coming tonight. A couple of people have offered. The problem we have is that we can't accept monetary donations for this because our mission is the cats — we can accept monetary donations to help the cats. We cannot accept monetary donations to help people, but we can accept food. We can get blankets. We can accept personal care products.”
Anyone seeking more information about the temporary shelter or for information on ways to help can visit @safehavengb on social media or the Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary Facebook page for updates.
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