"Life" in the Tunnel

Published on January 22, 2010 by Melody Perkins, Shelter Team Leader

Yesterday I learned that there is a tunnel here in St. Louis under one of the old buildings near downtown. It no longer has any planned use, as far as I understand, but 24 people LIVE in it--because they are homeless! My colleagues who visited the tunnel-dwellers said when it is very cold (11 degrees that day) they do come in for warming or meals. I have been in the shanty towns near the railroad tracks in Nashville, and seen the people who warm themselves by fires built in oil-barrels near Chicago's North Pier, but had no idea such a place existed here in St. Louis. Lord, have mercy! May they all get thick covers, full stomachs, hot showers and roofs over their heads!