Shelter seeks funds to help combat lingering bed bug infestation

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A local homeless outreach center is mounting a capital campaign aimed at securing grant funds to help mitigate lingering problems caused by Cimex lectularius, commonly known as the bed bug.

Lighthouse Outreach Center Director Errol Hada told the Examiner-Enterprise on Friday the center had recently been fumigated and that the issue is being addressed weekly at the shelter. The newspaper had received several complaints about the issue in recent weeks.

We had a problem about a month ago, Hada said. There are some still but we have it under control.

The Lighthouse Outreach Center focuses on helping homeless citizens become employed and procure housing of their own.

We are looking to get a grant of donations that will help us replace all the wooden beds in the mens dorm with steel beds and enable us to get a commercial washer and drier.

According to Hada, wooden bed frames are a haven for bed bugs in that the bugs get in the crevices of the wood making them difficult to exterminate. He says the washer and drier that the center currently has does not get hot enough to kill all the insects.

According to Wikipedia, bedbugs are parasitic insects of the cimicid family that feed exclusively on blood. Secondary issues from bed bug infestations include skin rashes, psychological effects and allergic symptoms and have reportedly increased in prevalence since 1995, likely due to pesticide resistance.

According to Hada, the Lighthouse is currently at capacity with about 40 men staying in the shelter.

We have even have four cots down right now, he said. There are about 20 more married couples and single women and 10 children.

More accommodations for the those in need are currently in the works through a local non-profit organization recently formed to help area homeless Family Promise of Washington County.

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Shelter seeks funds to help combat lingering bed bug infestation

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