The five women and their children who moved out of the recently closed Arbor House are now all relocated.
“They’re all doing well,” said John Barli, director of Gainesville’s Catholic Charities. “We are continuing to keep up with them but not on an official basis.”
In January, Catholic Charities, a major source of funds for the shelter, announced it wouldn’t renew a yearlong donation agreement with the house.
As a result, the women who lived in the shelter, located off Northwest Sixth Street, moved out on the weekend of March 2.
The house, which provided transitional housing and counseling services for homeless pregnant women, shut its doors due to lack of funds.
Three women and their children have moved into independent settings — some with relatives.
Two of the women and their children are staying in a Jacksonville shelter that offers the same services as the shelter in Gainesville, Barli said. A spokeswoman from the center in Jacksonville said the women are adjusting well.
Barli said the Jacksonville shelter is in regular communication with Catholic Charities.
Although Arbor House no longer has funding, it will not remain shuttered for long.
“I think someone’s going to come along and fill part of that niche,” Barli said, “but not necessarily to the extent that Arbor House did.”
The schooling and counseling services made the house more of a long-term home than an emergency shelter. But plans are under way for the house to start providing similar services again, said Audrie Harris, chair of the Arbor House board.
The grants the house received from the county and city have not yet expired. To make use of the funds, the house must serve low-income people in the area, Harris said.
She said the board is in negotiations with the city, county and St. Francis House. She said the board is hoping St. Francis House will take over responsibility for the house.
“They have plenty of pregnant women and women that have small children,” Harris said. “They would have no problem filling the beds there.”
The organizations are waiting for approval from the city and county.
