The Servants To All homeless shelter had its first training session Thursday for its volunteers at the First United Methodist Church, 330 W. Market St., Pottsville.
Members of the Schuylkill County VISION Suicide Prevention Task Force gave the presentation called "Question, Persuade, and Refer: Gatekeeper training." The training is offered to other civic groups, church organizations, doctors' offices, teachers and hospital staff, among many others.
"This is an important one," Albert Nastasi, founder and executive director of Servants To All, said Thursday. "We certainly do need to make sure all our volunteers have training. We have a good group of people and everyone here looks out for one another."
More than 20 people attended the first training session. Nastasi said the shelter plans to have at least two training sessions a month with various community organizations.
"We think suicide can be prevented," Debbie Heim, director of the task force, said.
Historically, Schuylkill County has one of the highest suicide rates in Pennsylvania, Heim said.
According to the task force, there were 32 suicides in both 2012 and 2013. The highest number in the last several years was 35 in 2009.
The county has consistently been in the top three in the state and is twice the state average, Pastor Mark Brooks of Bethesda Evangelical Congregation Church in Reedsville and member of the task force said. The highest rate of suicide is in people 65 and older with the most being older than 85.
"We are throwing this information at you to get you to stop thinking of the stereotype of who might commit suicide," Brooks said.
In addition to training volunteers, Nastasi said the shelter is planning to host motivational speakers for its residents.
"We find that the big problem is they have no motivation," Nastasi said. "They need to understand that they can succeed."
However, the shelter has had a few success stories.
Since opening eight weeks ago, seven shelter residents have found permanent housing, Nastasi said.
There are currently 15 residents at the shelter, which has had as many as 21 at one time. There have been a total of 41 people passing through the shelter doors, Nastasi said.
"We are growing into ourselves and we have always had community service in mind," Nastasi said.
On Saturday, the shelter residents will start their community service by helping out at Garfield's Diner across the street.
Several of the shelter residents have been able to find jobs, Nastasi said.
"We tell them to go to CareerLink everyday," he said. "People are working. We are very proud of that."
Other organizations have been helping out as well.
Theresa Santai-Gaffney, county register of wills and Servants To All board member, said Schuylkill Community Action donated some of its food pantry to the shelter and the Schuylkill YMCA has allowed the residents to come there from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
"It's very exciting," Santai-Gaffney said. "People have to stay in shape both physically and mentally."
The homeless shelter originally rotated between three city churches after it was established just before the winter storm on Valentine's Day: Trinity Episcopal Church, First United Methodist Church and United Presbyterian Church. It found a permanent home at the First United Methodist Church early last month, at least until Nastasi acquires a building downtown. Nastasi is still waiting to hear if a realtor will donate a property.
The last effort by city churches to house the homeless folded in 2009 due to a lack of volunteers and loss of a tax-exempt status. That was the last walk-in shelter in the county until February.
Donations to the Servants To All shelter can be forwarded to P.O. Box 1354, Pottsville, PA 17901.
Anyone looking to volunteer or help with the effort can call Nastasi at 570-573-0036. The temporary shelter can be reached at any time by calling 570-516-1891.