Lynchburg church gets approval for 50-bed homeless shelter [Video]

Lynchburg City Council approved a proposal this week to use a building owned by Ramp Church International on Memorial Avenue as a homeless shelter, a facility that will provide both day and night protection for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

The 4-3 vote by city council on Tuesday night came after a long discussion about how church staff will ensure the safety of the people at the shelter and the surrounding neighborhood, including students at E.C. Glass High School, located across the street from the church.

The approval of the new homeless shelter comes as Roads to Recovery plans to permanently close its Reset shelter on 5th Street on June 30 and as the city’s Salvation Army shelter on Park Avenue saw a decrease to 80 beds as part of its recent renovation. The city will be losing 16 overnight beds at Reset shelter when it closes.

The new shelter …