Gloucester’s United Emergency Shelter Team officially opened its doors for the 2017-2018 winter season on Monday morning to serve the homeless and those in need in the county.

Also, the organization has named John Seltzer of Gloucester as its first executive director. Seltzer, who will remain onboard with the program through the entire year, has a vision to turn GUEST into a year-round homeless shelter.

Seltzer said he was called into the ministry at the age of 25 and has since completed his bachelor’s degree in religion, a master’s degree in community chaplaincy and another master’s degree in pastoral counseling. He is working on his doctorate in traumatology.

Not only does Seltzer want to focus on turning the program into a 365-day-per-year program, he is also going to reach out to the more than 120 churches in the county and to the local government to solicit funds for the program.

Currently, the program’s annual operating budget is about $25,000. H...