DAEOC secures land to build homeless shelter in Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. (KBSI) – Dan Marshall is the Chairman for the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority, which, on Wednesday, deeded property on Kathleen Street in Sikeston to the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation to build a new homeless shelter. 

“This is a real nice boost for the area and for the community,” he said. “This way, DAEOC will be able to have a nice location and be able to manage it efficiently to take care of the need in the area.” 

The new shelter will have 12 units, which is twice as many as the previous shelter that also experienced frequent flooding, especially earlier this year. 

DAEOC President and CEO Joel Evans outlined the goal of the shelter. 

“Our employees will work with those who are guests at the homeless shelter to help them move toward more normalized housing and help address the conditions that move them into homelessness,” he said.

DAEOC works closely with Bootheel Counseling Services to help the homeless population, and BCS Executive Director David Terrell said this new facility will make it easier to work with their clients. 

“With this particular endeavor, we will have that resource to be able to go straight to and get assistance for these clients, and that is extremely rewarding,” he said.

And Marshall said there is a rewarding feeling to turning a property like this one, that was in such disrepair, into something that will mean so much to the community. 

“It just makes you feel real good to be able to know that the efforts that we’ve made give back to the community and make a difference to our great town,” he said.