MACON, Ga. — Brookdale Resource Center opened a couple years ago as a warming shelter for homeless people to get out of the cold for a night or two.
Since then, they've expanded to a full-time operation, helping people get back on their feet. One Macon woman says with growth comes some growing pains. Dana Coleman lived at the shelter for a few weeks before she says she was kicked out.
"You know, people got kids, they've got families, and they want some help," Coleman explained.
'Help' is why she came to Brookdale a few weeks ago. She said they help people get back on their feet. Not long after she got there, they kicked her out.
"I'm working from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The hours you can be off the property is 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.," she explained.
Now, she's staying in the hotel where she works. Brookdale says the hours aren't a problem, as long as they're approved. Coleman's were approved, but the center says the reason she was asked to leave was because she didn't check in at the center for a couple of days.
Coleman says there was another issue she noticed: the showers.
"The shower's outside. The showers are under tarps. Parents and families -- whole families have to take their children to the porta-shower underneath the tarp," Coleman said.
Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller confirmed that.
"We've been operating under makeshift showers there. We've been able to convert some previous equipment to meet the needs there," Miller said.
He says there's an ongoing project to add permanent showers at the old school. Tuesday, Macon-Bibb commissioners approved $250,000 to finish that project. Miller expects the showers to be finished in the next few months, probably around March.
Miller says they don't have any renderings of what the showers will look like, but that they'll be in bathrooms throughout the building.