Mayo Clinic Health System donates recliners to The Warming Center in La Crosse
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – After a long day, sometimes you just want to kick your feet up and relax. That's not always possible for the homeless. However, thanks to a recent donation. A shelter in La Crosse is looking to provide that relief. First News at Nine's Dashal Mentzel tells us more.
As the cold winter months are fast approaching, the La Crosse Warming Center is opening for the Winter season. This year, they're offering a little something extra for visitors; 45 reclining chairs donated by Mayo Clinic Health System. Mayo Clinic Community Engagement Specialist, Cindy Sherman, explains, "When we shifted over to our new hospital, our old hospital rooms are just there without patients in them. The furniture in there we are looking to rehome to where it makes sense to organizations that serve the community."
Catholic Charities, who runs the Warming Center, and Mayo Clinic have had a long-time relationship in La Crosse. Sherma adds, "Catholic Charities is a really good organization. The people that they're serving deserve dignity, warmth, and hospitality. We're happy that we can help in this way."
Catholic Charities Advancement Director Rob Grover says having the donated recliners is great because they were in a place where improvements were needed, "The chairs we had were getting kind of older. They're heavily used. It's great to have these new chairs in here for our guests, folks that spend all day on the streets. For them to be able to come in and be in one of these comfortable chairs, being able to recline and sleep, we are so grateful to Mayo for making that happen."
Grover adds that as the shelter opens up for the Winter season, this donation will mean a lot for the people who come here, "Folks that are used to having nothing or having very little, to be able to come in here and sleep in a spot where the chair is nice and comfortable and newer and fresh, it also helps build dignity into our guests."
In La Crosse, Dashal Mentzel First News at Nine.
Mayo officials say they plan to donate other equipment and furniture from the old hospital to other nonprofit organizations in the area soon.
