Catholic Charities opens Rancho Motel in Springfield as homeless shelter

The former Rancho Motel in Springfield, Missouri, recently was reborn by Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri as a temporary homeless shelter for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The motel at 1720 E. Kearney St. (aka Route 66) is housing eight adults and 14 children, with more arriving soon. They will be allowed to stay there through April.

The KY3 station in Springfield reported:

O’Reilly Hospitality owns the former Rancho Motel and is allowing the nonprofit to use it at no cost, as a temporary homeless shelter for families and women recovering from medical procedures.
Catholic Charities received about $300,000 in Greene County CARES Act funding to get the shelter up and going and operate it until the end of the year. The non-profit says it received about $73,000 from a state Emergency Solutions Grant to keep it open through April.
Bishop Edward Rice blessed the facility Wednesday morning. The nonprofit says it got the buildings ready in just 3 weeks, with its own home repair crew. There are new beds and blankets, refrigerators, microwaves and bathrooms in each space. The shelter can house up to 16 families, and provides meals, a laundry facility, case management, and even security cameras and patrols. They want families to feel safe as they go through a difficult time.

OzarksFirst.com also posted this one-minute video about the motel’s conversion:

Here’s a vintage postcard of what the motel looked like decades ago:

According to TheRoute-66.com:

On the old Bypass 66, on Kearney St. was the Rancho Motel dating back to 1955. Previously it was an Allied Service Travel Court. The office has changed, but the units to the west are unchanged.

(Hat tip to Tonya Pike; screen-capture image from OzarksFirst.com video of Rancho Motel sign; vintage postcard image of Rancho Motel courtesy of 66Postcards.com)