By Andy Furman
NKyTribune staff writer
It was her heart that made her do it. Ruslyn Case-Compton made the trek from Wrangell, Alaska to help.
“I was a writer for the Wrangell Centennial, the oldest continuing newspaper in Alaska,” Case-Compton told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. “I came back home to Northern Kentucky to help my ailing mom.”
And others.
Case-Compton, born in Park Hills and a Dixie Heights High School graduate is the Interim CEO for the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky. And it is no coincidence.
“I always did work for non-profits,” she said, while overseeing the second-annual Donation Drive-Thru at the ESNKY offices – 436 West 13th Street, Covington, Thursday.
“This is our second year with the Drive-Thru,” she said, “Before, we would do an open house.”
And what exactly is the Drive-Thru?
“We invite people to pop by, drop-off donations for our Winter Shelter, which gets underway, November 1st.”
The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky provides life saving, life changing low barrier shelter and services for adults in the community experiencing homelessness or housing instability.
“A community-based shelter as a pathway to hope, change and autonomy,” Case-Compton says is the shelter’s mission.
“We are committed to providing programs that are best practice,” said the Xavier University graduate. “Visitors just simply drive through with their donations and ESNKY guests and volunteers unload their vehicle. We’re accepting donations to support guests with essential daily-use items.”
The high-priority needs, she says include adult-size winter clothing along with coffee, sugar, creamer, and cereal to stock the kitchen. Personal care items such as soap, shampoo and toilet paper are also in demand as well as twin-size sheets and towels.
The drop-off was made quite easy, and visitors were treated to freshly popped popcorn and music.
As for the Winter Cold Shelter program, it provides low-barrier overnight shelter and wrap-around services in a night-by-night model.
The program is available to all adults – men and women—18-years-of-age and up, from November 1st through March 31st annually.
ESNKY opened its doors for the first time in the winter of 2008 as the region’s only cold-weather shelter for adults. In the summer of 2011, they began providing shelter during the warmer months for men who were working towards achieving housing, income, and improvement of health.
In 2013, a daytime shower and laundry program for adults that were unwilling or unable to access shelter to meet the immediate hygiene needs.
The Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky was started by a group of concerned citizens, elected officials, and business owners who wanted to ensure that the most vulnerable population had a place to go during the coldest weather.
And, with ten full-time workers and a group of volunteers, Ruslyn-Case Compton has kept it running – quite smoothly – daily in three shifts: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; 5 p.m.-1 a.m. and 1 a.m.-9 a.m.