What Happened?
With the help of state and federal grants, communities are making drastic improvements to local shelters.
New York City
The New York City Department of Homeless Services is allocating more than $45 million in city and state funds toward finding shelter for the city’s homeless population, up from $35.5 million in 2014. The funding is part of a citywide effort to expand housing for unsheltered homeless individuals, which is estimated to total more than 3,000 people, The New York Times reported.
New York City has a right-to-shelter mandate to ensure homeless individuals are guaranteed temporary emergency shelter upon request. The city houses 255 shelters to house its estimated 58,500 homeless persons. To accommodate the more transient, unsheltered homeless population, New York City is opening transitional housing that offers resources for temporary stays with less restrictions, The New York Times reported.
These safe havens provide showers, meals, social services and counseling. To appeal to those who do not like shelters, there are less rules such as no curfew. The facilities are typically smaller than traditional shelters, with fewer beds and resources. Their setup, however, allows homeless individuals to seek shelter on their own terms, the New York Times reported.
Part of the Department of Homeless Services’ strategy for the $45 million investment is to extend hours at more drop-in shelters and expand a network of beds in churches and community buildings. This will make it easier for unsheltered homeless individuals to stay in a certain neighborhood while getting off the street, The New York Times reported.
Sierra Vista
The Good Neighbor Alliance in Sierra Vista, Arizona, is utilizing a $190,571 grant to make its homeless shelter campus safer and more appealing to those in need. The grant was administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Community Development Block Grant Program. The federal funding be used to:
- Construct a security fence around the property
- Pave a new entrance
- Dig a water retention basin
- Install landscaping campuswide
Moving forward, the Good Neighbor Alliance plans to construct two additional buildings to house families specifically, while the existing facility would offer services to single men, Sierra Vista Herald reported.
Boston
The Boston Transportation Department’s old sign shop has recently been transformed into a shelter for the homeless whom have been displaced from a recently closed shelter on Long Island. Boston had to condemn an old bridge to the island on Boston Harbor, forcing the shelter to close, the Boston Globe reported.
By this April, the city hopes the two-story facility will be able to house 700 people that were once living in Boston’s largest shelter and have since been housed in temporary facilities. The goal of the new homeless shelter is to create a model facility that will offer not only refuge but also counseling and social services for participants, the Boston Globe reported.
Work put into the new shelter includes installing new:
- Plumbing
- Floors
- Walls
- Lighting
- Fire alarms
- Sheetrock
- Paint
- Electrical and heating systems
The project has already totaled $2 million in expenses, with that number to rise significantly as the city hurries to complete the shelter and get those in need out of the cold.
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