.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Last year 80 families were housed in the five rooms at Catholic Charities St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter. The shelter, however, due to a lack of vacancy had to turn away about 60 struggling families per month.

But a new $500,000 expansion project will help the shelter double its capacity. That’s good news for 80 additional families in need of a comfortable environment to get their lives back on track.

Nancy Galeazzi, executive director of Catholic Charities, said the shelter, which claims to be the only emergency shelter in Polk County that keeps the entire family unit together, will have an additional three stories built on to the back of the house and increase the number of rooms from five to 10.

Galeazzi said the shelter houses families for up to 30 days and helps them find affordable housing while providing three meals per day, access to laundry facilities, structure and counseling options.

Along with the addition, which is being designed by BSB Design, the kitchen will be upgraded, the dining area will be expanded, a playroom will be added and the building will be made handicap accessible.

Keeping the family together is a main mission for the shelter.

“To me it is just real important,” said Galeazzi, who has a family therapy background. “If you are not with your children or worrying if your husband is in the men’s shelter or your son is in the adolescent shelter, you are just not sure what is going to help them in those situations. It makes it harder to problem solve as a family.”

The expansion is being supported by a $350,000 I-JOBS grant and was spurred by a $1 million donation from St. Jude Enterprises led by CEO Tom Moreland. As part of the terms of the I-JOBS grant, Catholic Charities had to provide $100,000 in matching funds. Galeazzi said Catholic Charities would use $100,000 from the $1 million donation to cover the matching funds requirement, and use the remaining donation to create an endowment fund to help with future operational costs. It is also accepting donations to help furnish the interior of the shelter.

Ground was broken at the site on March 22, and the addition should take about six months to complete. The shelter will remain open during construction.