New Day has first day of serving unsheltered community

Karen Craigo

Adam Bodendieck, Community Partnership of the Ozarks’ senior director of homeless services, shows off the cafe in the New Day purpose-driven day center, where people can get free coffee and use computers and Wi-Fi.

Karen Craigo

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A purpose-driven day center whose operation is funded by a 3% tax on recreational marijuana began serving the city’s homeless population yesterday.

New Day, located at 809 N. Campbell Ave., offers a variety of services for the unsheltered community. There, people can take a shower, do their laundry, receive mail and access resources ranging from health care to legal aid, according to Adam Bodendieck, senior director of homeless services for Community Partnership of the Ozarks Inc., which operates the center.

The building is the former home of Legal Services of Southwest Missouri and was purchased and renovated through approximately $3 million in city-administered American Rescue Plan Act funds, Bodendieck said.

Approved by city voters in 2023, the adult-use marijuana sales tax revenue is dedicated to public safety, substance abuse services, housing and mental health services. The day center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Bodendieck said the day center offers spaces for people to rest and relax, like a long library room with cushioned seating and books available for loan, and like a cafe area that has free coffee, multiple desktop computers (currently awaiting the arrival of their keyboards) and free Wi-Fi.

New Day is now the home of Community Partnership of the Ozarks’ One Door program, offering housing assistance and other resources for those experiencing homelessness in Greene, Christian and Webster counties. The program was formerly housed at the O’Reilly Center for Hope at 1518 E. Dale St., but that center now serves families with children who are homeless or at risk of becoming so.

One Door offers a central point of entry for intake, assessment and referrals for housing and shelter services for adults, according to the CPO website.

One Door services available on-site include health care and mental health care, assistance with benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid and legal services.

Bodendieck said some partner agencies – among them the Department of Social Services, AIDS Project of the Ozarks and Jordan Valley Community Health Center – are already present at New Day, and some will be joining in the coming days.

“It’s an opportunity to connect,” he said.

He added that volunteers are stepping up to provide added programming, like art and music therapy.

“That’s that purpose-driven component,” he said. “We’re setting up a very intentional framework to give people the opportunity to work on their goals, whatever those goals may be, and to make programming towards them.”

With one day in, Bodendieck said there were only a few small hiccups, like a wait on signage for interior doors as people learn a whole new layout.

“It’s a little bit of an adventure, but so far, so good,” he said.

The reception from people who spend their day at the facility has been good, he added.

“People have been very kind and gracious,” he said. “There are a lot of the folks that we typically would see at O’Reilly Center for Hope, so they know us and we know them. We’re trying to work together to do something really exciting.”

Some of the people lined up outside of the building before opening time today offered positive reviews of the approach. One person, bundled inside a sleeping bag with his black Labrador retriever mix, said he had attended on the first day and rated it “pretty good.” Another, waiting inside in a wheelchair, was all smiles, noting, “Any day the Lord wakes me up is a good day.”

Jason Robinson, an unsheltered 11-year resident of Springfield, said New Day seemed fine to him, though he cautioned that CPO’s efforts can only go so far. According to Robinson, the city of Springfield needs to revisit its views of homelessness.

“It’s against the law to be homeless in Springfield,” he said, going on to explain that being homeless means one is constantly forced to be on the move.

A place like New Day, where a person can relax without having to relocate, is beneficial, according to Robinson, but he noted that drug and alcohol abuse and mental health issues like bipolar disorder make the problem a complex one to address.

“Springfield needs to do more to address the problem,” he said.