Mountain of Faith Ministries, which serves homeless women in Warren County, is looking for new funding sources after losing a $155,000 Emergency Shelter Grant administered by the Mississippi Home Corp.

The grant was not extended in November, executive director Betty James said. She is not taking a salary as director.

“It has put a hardship on Mountain of Faith,” James said. “The grant that we had took care of the Faith House and the Women’s Restoration Shelter, so that covered both areas.”

She said the grant was lost because the grant’s administrator at the time did not spend enough of the grant money.

“You can’t sit on the money,” James said. “The grant was a matching funds grant and apparently they were not matching the funds like they should. As long as we were spending on things for the shelter, and staff, we were OK; it was just not being spent.”

She said Mountain of Faith’s application for another grant for 2019 was denied by the state.

Presently, she said, “We’re making it by faith. We have a little money right now, because of the (Women’s Empowerment) luncheon, because we got the money in from that so that helps us.

“But after the month of December, I don’t know what we’re going to do to keep the shelter open.

“I’m reaching out to churches and different organizations and hoping that we can keep the lights on and the gas going and pay the necessary bills that are needed here at Mountain of Faith.”