Moorhead's Churches United seeks additional funding for expansion at Micah's Mission

(Moorhead, MN) -- Churches United Executive Director Pastor Sue Koesterman says the Moorhead agency is looking to complete an expansion project at their homeless shelter on 1st Street.

"We are seeing people in our community who are impacted first by the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of economic repercussions.  Those repercussions have lasted the longest.  That has been a segment of our community that has been slowest to recover economically," said Koesterman. 

The shelter is currently operating at peak capacity, providing housing nightly for up to 112 people.  They're planning to add 7,500 square feet of additional space. That includes 8 more rooms for families and 3 additional family bathrooms. The budget for the project is $750,000.  About half that amount has already been secured.  Koesterman says she hopes the rest of the funds will come from other public agencies and private donors.

Last year, the agency handed out 1.7 million pounds of food at their food pantries.

Unfortunately, the staff is also being impacted by the labor shortage.  Currently with a staff of 75, they are looking to fill 6 open positions.