Safe Shelter Homeless Shelter founder Pearl Webster turns attention to continued funding

Pearl Webster, a member of the Oneida Nation, had a dream. As she was eyeing retirement from a long career in nursing (she holds an MBA), she was also considering how she could improve the lives of some of the neediest members in her community.

For more than five years, she plotted, researched, and planned. It was a time-consuming journey, but she was driven to succeed. She leaned on her years of nursing experience; 45 years that were spent in a multitude of settings. She worked in public heath within the Oneida Community Health Center, was a case manager for Southern Care Hospice, and taught nursing at the College of Menominee Nation.

Along the way, she acquired a concern for members of the Oneida community and surrounding areas that didn’t have a place to call home.

“It was something I kept thinking about,” Webster said. “I saw such a need in the community. My response was to try to do something to help and improve on the situation. I tried to recruit people with the same passion and mission, but it was difficult. Not everyone is committed to this type of work and it takes special people to want to be part of this.”

Webster was one of those special people. With support from her family and despite the fact that she was already in her 70s, she dove headlong into the challenge. She met with members of the Oneida community and a plan began to take shape. Between 2015 and 2018, a small group gathered and documented data on homelessness and validated the need for services to native people who lacked housing and the opportunities to improve their situations.

She met with Lexie Wood, then director of St. John’s Homeless Shelter; Shannon Wienandt, director of the House of Hope; and Terri Refsguard, chief executive officer of the New Community Shelter.

More: Oneida nurse's vision for a homeless shelter on the reservation becomes reality

“They helped me lay the groundwork and develop bylaws and articles of organization. That external support from other shelter directors helped to validate what they were seeing in their shelters. Lexi thought we needed it and even came to the tribe to try to sell them on it,” Webster said.

After that initial push, in 2019, Webster said that the Oneida government and community came together to support the plan. The next challenge came in setting up a nonprofit corporation.

“It was a nightmare," she said. "I am a nurse so I had no concept of how to apply for a 501(c)(3). Other shelter directors helped as much as they knew how, but their nonprofits were in place when they started. The Startup Hub at NWTC helped me through that process and really got things set up for me.”

Safe Shelter Inc. was formed and received nonprofit status. Webster’s goal was to serve families.

“The other shelters served adults,” she said. “The Brown County Housing Coalition stressed the need for a family shelter so I went with the recommended need.”

An empty steel building that Webster says she “scouted out” years earlier became her target location. It was already owned by the tribe and she envisioned gutting it out and completely remodeling it to serve 13 families. When the pandemic hit, it turned out to be a blessing.

“The good thing about COVID was the money that came in to support families through ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act of 2021)," Webster said. "Before that, the tribe had a budgeted amount for the building but we received a large grant to complete the renovations.”

In November 2021, Webster opened the doors to Safe Shelter Homeless Shelter, 2155 Hutson Road. The initial grant money and support of the Oneida Nation made the dream a reality. Thirteen families were able to have a temporary home and Webster, at age 76, continued as manager.

“I have all of the roles of running a business from staffing, to policy and grant writing, to payroll and accounting, to paying bills, and the day-to-day issues. The list goes on,” Webster said. “Right now, I’m working with Laurel (Laurel Haak of the Green Bay SCORE chapter) to recruit an office manager. It’s hard to find people to fill this position because it is more than an office manager, it’s a little bit of everything.”

Haak is also advising Webster on the biggest challenge going forward — how to make the shelter sustainable without the influx of ARPA money. As of Oct. 1, funding became the shelter’s sole responsibility.

“Safe Shelter is now getting tight on funds," Webster said. "We’ve received a few small grants and have some pending. I operate on a tight budget, keep staff to a minimum, ask for volunteers, and have help from some fundraisers. We will soon be 2 years old and that will qualify us to request funding from a wider source of donors and grants.”

As she tells the story of the shelter, Webster hopes that others will share her passion. Watching a family succeed and be able to move on to permanent housing, she says, is her greatest joy. It validates the hours and hours of hard work; work that is in stark contrast to for-profit businesses.

“This is different because we’re not dealing with a machine or a product,” Webster said. “You’re dealing with people — adults and children, who for the most part, have nothing. Many have been in and out of shelters for years and their kids have been born in shelters. You are dealing with the psych-social, emotional side of all of the dysfunction.

“You are trying to help folks who don’t recognize their own need and sometimes the task can seem impossible," she said. "Every day this all tugs at your heart; sometimes breaking it because you feel like you have failed somewhere or somehow. Maybe you could have done something different.”

But Webster demonstrates what can be accomplished by one person, helped by other caring people. She is quick to credit the other shelter directors, Startup Hub, SCORE, friends, close family members, and members of the Oneida community who help with repairs, sit at the desk, give advice, and provide food and supplies.

“I believe you can do anything you want to do,” she said. “This was true of my nursing education and associated struggles. My strengths are being caring and compassionate for those less fortunate. My inspiration is in learning to be empathetic rather than sympathetic and helping people who need supportive help. Not to do it for them, but to give them the resources and knowledge to empower them to become self-sufficient.”

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Safe Shelter Homeless Shelter founder looks to financial stability