The Open Shelter opened on December 6, 1983 as the first 24-hour emergency walk-in shelter in Ohio. Since that time, over 50,000 men, women and children have been helped.
We are now a Day Services Shelter & Advocacy Center for homeless and marginally housed, men, women, and families.
Our address is: The Open Shelter, Inc., 1037 Parsons Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43206.
The Open Shelter continues advocacy efforts on behalf of our homeless and marginally housed neighbors. This facility serves as the hub for our Outreach services, which are desperately needed.
There are hundreds of persons each day who are forced to live “in the open”, on the streets, in abandoned buildings, on railroad land and under bridges. Cut off, excluded and left behind they turn to The Open Shelter.
This partnership-in-service also allows us to respond to the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors, working with the Social Security Administration processing applications and appeals, continuing to provide payeeship services and assistance in securing and then retaining housing.
Through the generosity of our supporters, we also provide the basics of survival – hot meals, sack lunches, food, clothing, personal hygiene items, tarps and sleeping bags.