OSCODA – Emmanuel Mission has announced the re-opening of the Emergency Homeless Shelter at 219 W. River Rd in Oscoda.  

On Oct. 2, 2020 at 5 p.m. they will resume services for the homeless population of Iosco County on a first-come, first-served basis.

“When we found ourselves shutting down last March due to the coronavirus, we assumed that it would only be a two or three week temporary shut-down,” said Fr. Timothy Doubblestein, Director of Emmanuel Mission.  “We could never have predicted that the State of Michigan’s Stay Home orders would last for three months or that we would find ourselves having to completely rebuild our volunteer base.”  

Once Emmanuel Mission’s volunteer base was rebuilt and the availability of PPE (personal protection equipment) began to be more consistently available, the Mission’s leadership set Oct. 2 as their opening date.  

“It’s important to be able to start serving the homeless population before the weather begins to turn cold and winter is upon us, Doubblestein said.  

The new CDC and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 guidelines have meant many changes including requiring all volunteers and clients to be masked and restrictions on the number of clients they can serve at one time, however, the staff of Emmanuel Mission is excited about resuming services.

For additional information please call Fr. Timothy Doubblestein at 739-5751.