Severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings issued for Twin Cities metro area

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

, the largest shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota north of the Twin Cities, has announced plans to double its capacity, helping to alleviate a chronic lack of space at its facility in downtown Duluth. 

The shelter was built in 1998 on the city’s steep hillside to serve 30 people. Today it has 80 beds, but serves about 125 people every night. Many have to sleep on chairs, at tables or on the floor. 

“There just isn’t enough space to provide for all the different needs that walk through our doors every day,” said executive director John Cole. 

Now that is poised to change. Chum has raised $10 million — $2 million in federal funds and $8 million from the state of Minnesota — to add two stories to its downtown building, and double the number of beds it offers to 160. 

“We will provide more spaces for services, more space to meet the diverse needs of our guests, space for couples, space for gender non-conforming people, space that provides greater ADA accessibility,” said Cole. 

The need for additional shelter for people experiencing homelessness has worsened since the pandemic. Encampments have sprung up around Duluth, including a high-profile one earlier this year outside Duluth City Hall and the county courthouse. 

Business owners and downtown workers have voiced mounting concerns about panhandling and safety. 

The issue came to a head when Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert 

proposed making camping on city property a misdemeanor crime

. The city council eventually declined to take that step, but passed several other public safety reforms. 

“We have neglected our housing system for decades, and it has brought us to this point where hundreds of our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, our family members have had the unfortunate experience of falling into homelessness,” said Joel Kilgour, organizer for Stepping On Up, an effort launched by 12 Duluth-area nonprofits, including Chum, to end street homelessness. 

Kilgour said many people have had to rely on emergency shelters such as Chum for a year or even two while they languish on long waiting lists for permanent housing. 

“Our shelters were not designed for the numbers of people experiencing homelessness, and they were not designed for long stays,” said Kilgour. 

Construction on the project is expected to start next spring and last about 18 months. 

St. Louis County has allocated $1.4 million to renovate the third floor of the nearby Damiano Center to create a temporary shelter for Chum residents during construction. 

“So there will continue to be shelter space available while this space is built,” said St. Louis County Commissioner Annie Harala. “And our community will then vision what that space will become. So it's an investment for the future.”

Chum still needs to raise an additional $1.2 million to fill a remaining funding gap for the project. 

Colleen Rock, a current guest at CHUM, said there is no privacy in the overcrowded shelter. 

"There is no quiet place to read,” she said. “There is no quiet place to think. I cry myself to sleep every night because all I see are people who are in need.”

Minnesota News

Greater Minnesota

NewsPartners

Homepage

Minnesota Housing News

Duluth News

Dan Kraker

Author

Chum, the largest shelter serving people experiencing homelessness in Duluth, has announced plans to add two stories to its downtown building, and double the number of beds it offers, from 80 to 160. 

Duluth shelter poised to double in size to address growing homelessness crisis

Go Deeper.

Like this?