UCAN City Mission
The UCAN Mission is in turmoil after the discovery of asbestos shut down the facility and its Executive Director resigned.
A post by UCAN Mission Board Chair Sharon Hamilton on the agency’s Facebook page stated that asbestos was found on the second floor of the building while installation of a new forced air heating system was being done as part of replacing the building’s boiler system, which had failed.
She said, “…the mission has been without heat since January 8th and unavailable to serve as an emergency code blue shelter. Guests who had their stay subsidized by DSS needed to be relocated by the county. ”
She added that the discovery of asbestos on January 24 resulted in all remaining guests, staff and contractors to have to vacate the building. The six remaining Mission guests were put in the LaQuinta Inn on West Third Steet as a temporary solution. The asbestos discovery has also resulted in work on the HVAC system being temporarily delayed.
Hamilton said that following the conclusion of an emergency board meeting held on January 26, Executive Director Aaron Wadin resigned via email “effective immediately and without warning.” According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, Wadin was hired in January 2023 to replace former Director Jeff Rotunda. This is the third resignation of an Executive Director at the Mission in the last three years.
Hamilton said the board has reached out to Joy Fellowship Church who is willing to provide UCAN guests with shelter and services from their facility. Guests have begun staying there as of January 31.
She said asbestos evaluation is already underway, and “the initial analysis is optimistic that remediation may be able to begin relatively quickly, and portions of the building may be cleared for occupancy.”
Leave a Reply