PRESBYTERIAN NIGHT SHELTER OF TARRANT COUNTY

The Presbyterian Night Shelter is a place of trust, respect and caring for the homeless, helping them regain their quality of life. We serve the needs of the homeless while respecting their dignity. The Shelter is the only free area emergency shelter without length-of-stay restrictions. More than 4,300 individuals call the streets of Tarrant County home. Of these homeless, over 95% receive services from the Presbyterian Night Shelter sometime during the year. We served 4,969 homeless people in 2014.

The Shelter is the largest provider of services for the area homeless population, supplying meals, beds and basic human care, case management and employment services to an average of 670 homeless clients each night of the week, every week of the year. Since it was founded 30 years ago by local Presbyterian ministers, it has provided more than 6 million nights of stay and served more than 13 million meals. The Shelter offers resources enabling clients to reenter mainstream society, and employs at least 30 homeless clients who handle day-to-day operations. Our mission is guiding the journey home.

Located east of downtown Fort Worth and one block south of East Lancaster on Cypress Street, the Presbyterian Night Shelter is a 5-acre campus of four facilities that provides specialized care for Tarrant County’s homeless. The four facilities include:

• Main Shelter for adults, the elderly, infirm, mentally ill and veterans. Shelter, evening meals and basic necessities such as toiletries are provided through donations. In addition to basic necessities, all clients in the main shelter receive at minimum basic case management and ultimately can be successfully employed and/or be placed in housing.

• Women and Children's Program for 30 women with 75+ children. This program also serves pregnant women in the last trimester of a documented high risk pregnancy. Services include: emergency and transitional housing, three meals a day and case management for mothers and children, assistance with employment and children’s programming.

• Behavioral Care Facility for single men and women with severe mental illness. The 20-room residential facility is a non-threatening environment with furnished, private rooms. Services include: case management, medication management, life skills and three meals a day.

• Veterans Services Program for homeless veterans. The Patriot House opened in 2008, providing 32 beds for veterans and services for all veterans on the Presbyterian Night Shelter campus, including case management assistance with securing housing, employment etc.

The Presbyterian Night Shelter is a local, independent, nonprofit organization, which operates on a $5.1 million campus-wide budget. Only 50% budget is subsidized by federal sources; therefore, the shelter relies on donations from individuals, foundations, corporations and local churches to operate.