Shelter hosts fundraiser to help with unprecedented need

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    COLUMBIA, TN (WSMV) — A Midstate shelter has had to overcome obstacle after obstacle, and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic even began.

Now the volunteers who the shelter are facing a new challenge: they have a wait list with more people needing their services than ever before.

The Room in the Inn of Columbia provides so much more than shelter.

It helps people like Betty Long with transportation, job placement and education.

“I don’t know what I’d do without it because I still depend on them a lot for help,” Long told News4 in September 2019.

That month the fire marshal shut down the shelter, saying it needed a sprinkler system at the Westminster Presbyterian Church where people were being housed.

Unable to afford it, the shelter was faced with the possibility of having to turn needy families away.

“I was heartbroken, and I gathered the elders together and we cried. It was like a death,” said Rev. Jeff Kane, who founded the Room in the Inn of Columbia.

Fortunately, the non-profit persevered by partnering with the Columbia Inn hotel. At the time it was helping three families.

Then COVID-19 hit.

Now Room in the Inn of Columbia is housing 18 families and have another 15 families on a wait list.

“You look into children’s eyes, or young mother’s eyes, and you tell them, ‘Can you sleep in your car on more night,’ or ‘is there an auntie, or grandmother or somewhere you can sleep?’ We’re working as hard as we can,” said Kane.

It’s why the shelter, along with sponsors TriStar Bank and Asgard Brewing Company, are hosting its first-ever Oktoberfest fundraiser.

“We’re hoping for a sell-out crowd,” said Kane.

Kane said he believes they will get it because, despite a fire marshal shut down, a global pandemic and an economic crisis, Kane and his volunteers have what it takes – faith.

“Time and time again, when we think we can’t go any further, God just keeps providing and people keep showing up,” said Kane.

The Oktoberfest fundraiser will be held Sept. 25 from 5-9 p.m. Click for information or to purchase tickets.

It costs about $800 each month to house a family.

If you can’t attend the event but would like to donate, call the Westminster Presbyterian Church at 931-388-3703.

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