BOISE, Idaho — So many businesses are struggling these days to fill open jobs. They can't find enough employees to hire. The Boise Rescue Mission is facing the same challenge.
Boise Rescue Mission Ministries operates homeless shelters for men, women and children. It also provides work-search assistance, GED completion, counseling, addiction recovery and programs for homeless veterans.
President and CEO Rev. Bill Roscoe says the mission is short 15 to 20 staffers, everything from cooks to counselors. They've had to get creative to carry out their mission, he said.
"We've had to make a lot of adjustments," Roscoe said. "One of those is we have people working more than one shift per day, which is going along O.K., but a lot of those people are getting a little tired. In the case of the Canyon County Rescue Mission facilities, we did cease homeless services at the Lighthouse Rescue Mission a couple months ago now because the numbers of guests there just did not justify having the facility open for that purpose. We were serving two to three homeless men per week, and to do that we had to have the facility fully staffed 24/7 as all of our facilities are."
Roscoe says they made an arrangement to transport men needing help in Canyon County to the River of Life shelter in Boise.
As far as staffing, Roscoe says they're looking for cooks, case managers and drivers at the warehouse to pick up and process donated goods. He says they have increased hourly wages to try to attract and keep workers.
This Sunday on Viewpoint Roscoe also explains how the Rescue Mission is making sure the homeless are safe and comfortable during this scorching heatwave of many days above 100 degrees.
On this "beat the heat" edition of Viewpoint we're also checking in with Zoo Boise to see how they're doing the same for their animals. Viewpoint airs Sunday morning at 6:30 right here on KTVB.
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