Angel Wings Outreach Center in Simpson County is dealing first hand with funding cuts that began in October 2025. If major funding is not found soon, closing the facility is a strong possibility.
The shelter has served Simpson and surrounding counties many years having maintained an appropriate level of funding through various grant programs and federal dollars. Shelter Director Lanza “Wendy” Seals said the facility can make it on $200,000 annually but $300,000 is better. She is currently working to obtain that amount from the federal government.
While the amount sounds large it must cover what one would expect for living expenses: utilities, food, repairs, and insurance among others. In addition to overhead there are wages to be paid. The shelter is no longer hiring and has cut staffing hours to a minimum as well.
Seals noted the most recent monthly electric bill for the shelter is $1,200. “That’s one month. I'm grateful now that Entergy is allowing us to do extensions, but it's still got to be paid.”
Last summer the air conditioning system went out and there simply was no money to cover repairs or a new unit. Seals informed the company that the shelter would have to wait. “He said, ‘Well, let me know when you can get it.’ He wasn't gone two hours and he called back. He said, ‘I can't do that. I’m fixing to go get the equipment and put the unit in and I'm going to put you on a payment plan.’ And God worked that out.”
Currently one family is housed in Angel Wings, but Seals said, “We get domestic violence calls every day now, especially on Fridays.” The shelter has four rooms in which to accommodate families who may stay up to 30 days. Angel Wings also assists in finding transitional housing.
“Right now we are pretty much at the bottom of the barrel. We need financial help. We will continue to reapply for grants. I’ve been here 30 years and we have never been in a crunch like this, never. It’s just something that happened beyond our control,” explained Seals.
Churches provide needed cleaning supplies regularly and Seals says she is very grateful. She added if anyone would like to make a donation, they can call Angel Wings at 601-847-5802.
