Homeless shelter may shut down

HUDSON - Cathy Weisenfeld had a yard sale over the weekend. Monday morning she took the $200 she made and gave it to the Holy Ground Homeless Shelter in Hudson.

"It's not much," Weisenfeld said. "They need the help."

Indeed, Holy Ground is facing a Tuesday deadline to come up with $7,900 in back rent. If they don’t have the money by tomorrow the organization will be forced to get out.

Holy Ground is one of Pasco County's few homeless shelters. Lisa Barabas-Henry who runs the shelter acknowledges she is almost three months behind on the rent. She says the shelter has been heavily dependent on donations from churches but the recession is forcing many on the shelter's donors to cut back.

"The churches are hurting really bad so that's dropped," Barabas-Henry said. "We just could not keep up."

If the shelter is forced to close or move, people like Briana Newman and her four year old son Michael could be out on the streets.

"This is one of the only programs that I could be in and be with my child in Pasco County," Newman said.

By the end of Monday Barabas-Henry said dozens of perfect strangers, some with checks for as little as $10, had come by to help. Neither the property owner nor its attorney returned calls Monday and it's unclear if they will accept the back rent if shelter operators can collect it by Tuesday. The deadline for payment is 6:04 Tuesday night.