DOVER, Del.- Organizers and partners with Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing say the group is moving closer toward moving its primary shelter for homeless men, though it is looking for help raising funds for the effort.
DIMH has reached a preliminary covenant with the church that owns the former St. John's Lutheran School property along Walker Road to purchase the property for more than $600,000, according to Dover Realtor Mike Harrington, a board member of the Downtown Dover Partnership who has been assisting the nonprofit with finding a new place for its men's shelter.
The school was recently closed earlier this year and has been identified as one potential location for DIMH to move its men's shelter. The organization is being forced to relocate the shelter because a lease with the Downtown Dover Partnership for its current location on Forest Avenue will not be renewed and is set to expire after next year.
Although the Walker Road location is more than a mile and a half away from Interfaith's current men's shelter and resource center on Forest Street, Harrington said DIMH's clients should be able to get downtown to reach social services or businesses they may need.
"It's definitely walkable. The facility is definitely large enough and the price is reasonable enough," he said.
Harrington said concerns had been raised about the former school's proximity to a daycare because the homeless shelter may be used by sex offenders. He said local laws do not prevent that from happening and DIMH officials have said
