OTSEGO CO., MI -- Imagine not having a home, but having a place that will welcome you in your time of need.

Outside of Gaylord, there's a place that does exactly that.

Friendship Shelter puts a roof over the head of homeless, but needs some help.

It's been a tough road for the Wagner's.  About a year ago, an 18 year old arsonist destroyed their uninsured home, Keith lost his job, and Starr couldn't find work.  On top of everything, they had young Desiree.  The bills were piling up with no way of paying them, so they had to make a decision.

"The shelter took us in, neither one of us had been to a shelter, we didn't know what to expect, I was, had a lot of pride, didn't want to do it, that type of thing," said Keith Wagner.

They ended up here, at the Friendship shelter in Otsego County.  They spent 90 days at the shelter, Keith found work, and they were able to find a place to stay.  But recently, things got bad again.  Keith was put on medical leave, couldn't work, and Starr was still unemployed.

"We couldn't pay the bills, we had a hard time getting money from the state, so we came back again," said Wagner.

Marilyn Kaczanowski is the Executive Director of the Friendship shelter.  She says the Wagner's are like several other families who have lost everything.

"Our job is to get them back on their feet as fast as we can.  We're not here to fix them, but we're here to help guide them and so we help them get the proper agencies to get that help," said Kaczanowski.

The shelter has been open since 1991.  Right now, there are 29 people filling the 37 beds at the shelter, including 10 kids.  But with the economy in shambles, it isn't easy.

"There's a real possibility the shelter could close," she said.

Kaczanowski says 25 percent of the shelter is run off private donations, something that's taken a hit.  Starr Wagner says the shelter is not a hand-out, it's a helping hand.  They have rules, no alcohol or drugs, lights out at 11, and every morning, they have a meeting to discuss ways to find a job.

"I want people to see that if they spend five minutes with us, we're just like them, we just don't have the money to get into a place," said Starr Wagner.

The Wagner's say they don't like to think where they'd be, and where their daughter would be, if it wasn't for the shelter.

Starr Wagner says she got a job recently, and that money will help her find a place for her family to live.

She says anything you can do to help Friendship Shelter will help the next family that's in need.