Haven House Staff Close To Buying Back Shelter

The staff at the Haven House homeless shelter in Jeffersonville is almost finished with a fundraising campaign. The staff is trying to raise money to buy back their building, which was auctioned in March.The building was auctioned because Haven House's director owed about 300 hundred thousand dollars in payroll taxes to the IRS.   Unless the staff can raise enough money to buy it back, the new owner plans to close and renovate the shelter, then re-open it under new management.But Haven House deputy director Kelli Orman says the shelter should not close, even though it could use the renovations."It does need repairs," she says. "It does need some fixing up, but just keeping the electric and making sure the residents have food has always been more important than how pretty it is."The shelter's current staff has until September 5^th to raise 88 hundred dollars to buy back the building. A Florida man has donated half of the money, and Orman says local donations will likely make up the rest. If they can buy back the building, Orman says Haven House will not close and will receive a federal grant for renovations.