Green Bay women’s shelter to reopen next week

An overnight shelter for homeless women in Green Bay is reopening next Monday.

St. John’s Ministries shuttered its women’s-only facility at the start of this month because of short-staffing. As a result, women and men have been sleeping in separate areas of the same building — a facility at 411 St. John Street that formerly operated as a men’s only-shelter.

Now, shelter leaders say they’ve hired enough seasonal workers to once again operate separate buildings for men and women, with the women’s-only facility at 700 E. Walnut Street set to open the evening of Dec. 4.

St. John’s Ministries is still looking for workers to staff some evening shifts, so that existing employees can have more scheduling flexibility.

The Green Bay-based St. John’s Ministries offers overnight refuge to adults during the coldest half of the year from November through April. The organization first opened its women’s-only facility at Walnut Street in 2022.

During the week preceding Thanksgiving, the ministry sheltered an average of 75 men and 36 women per night, according to the executive director.

“Those are staggeringly high numbers this soon in the shelter season,” Executive Director Jesse Brunette said in a written statement. “Our concern is that as the weather turns colder the number of adults seeking shelter will rise significantly, stretching our available resources.”

St. John’s Ministries is a shelter of last resort, which means it serves people who are turned away from other facilities.