Denton homeless shelter in need of expansion

DENTON, Md. – A shelter in Denton is rapidly running out of space and Mayor Abby McNinch says the town depends on it to help the homeless get a second chance at life.

“We have a lot of needy families in the area and to provide them transitional housing to provide them services to get them back up on their feet we see that as building our whole community together,” said Mayor Abby McNinch.

The shelter called His Hope Ministries gives people a place to stay while helping them get back into housing.

Staff serve more than a hundred people each year. Now they are in desperate need for new space.

“We have people from Salisbury and from the lower shore, and we get people from Delaware,” said the His Hope Ministries Executive Director, Lynn Keckler.

“Sometimes we get people from across the bridge, and so we get people and we serve people from all over,” said Keckler.

“Every year the need gets larger and we’re in danger of being obsolete, our accommodations,” said the Shelter Operations Director, Dr. Travis Depew.

The shelter houses nearly 200 people every year and those individuals stay in different rooms.

“We have six family rooms, we have a single men’s room, single women’s room and there were a lot of people,” said Depew.

Another major concern is that the shelter is closed during the summer. So, staff members are also looking for a place people can stay all year long.

“They’re still homeless in the summer when we’re not open that’s one of our biggest needs is for housing and for shelter for people during the summer months,” said Keckler.

Despite this need for more space, people tell 47ABC the shelter is a place of hope for so many families.

“I would definitely recommend this here shelter to anybody because like I said it’s not a shelter, it’s a ministry that loves and it’s hard to find people that really loves you, that’s looking out for you and your family,” said Samantha McNamara.

Depew said they serve people who lost their home in a fire, are fleeing domestic violence or are in need of a place to stay after being released from prison.

Staff members are asking people to come out to their Car Show on July 13th at the Olde Sale Barn.

Proceeds collected at the event will help them get more resources for the shelter.