DeLauro Drops In To The Drop-In Center

Basher Jamale says he would not have a job, green card, or warm cup of coffee everyday if it weren’t for the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) Drop-In and Resource Center. 

Jamale was one of several homeless New Haveners who met U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro at the DESK Drop-In and Resource Center at 266 State St. She visited the center Monday to hear about what it offers and what it needs to continue helping New Haveners facing homelessness. 

DESK Executive Director Steve Werlin led DeLauro on the tour alongside Program Director Tina Paolillo, board member and Varick Memorial AME Zion Church Rev. Kelcy Steele and Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center CEO Michael Taylor. 

The center opened last April and has become a lifeline for the homeless.

Jamale visited the center to pick up a coffee Monday and was surprised when he saw DeLauro walk in. He decided to introduce himself and told her about how helpful the center has been for him while tackling homelessness. 

“I have a job now because of here,” Jamale said. 

Jamale, who is originally from Somalia, has been visiting the center for the past three months while sleeping at the New Haven Inn hotel as part of the city’s winter​“warming center” program for the unsheltered. 

“They pushed me to get a job and motivated me to do what I needed to do when ever I would come,” he said of DESK. 

With the help of the center, Jamale has obtained his green card and is getting help with getting his social security card. After a three-month search, Jamale recently got a job as a security guard. 

“If there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said. 

Once obtaining his social security card, Jamale plans to start his search for apartments in the New Haven area. He also expressed interest in volunteering at the center in the future. Jamale speaks seven languages; he hopes that will help him with work and volunteering.

Werlin informed DeLauro of the team’s goals for expanding the space in the future. 

Currently the three-story resource center houses its drop-in center on the ground level, a medical space on the second floor, and administrative offices on the third level. 

While on the second floor of the building, Werlin described the center as a ​“front door” for individuals facing homelessness to get assistance with retrieving their vital documents, vouchers for basic needs like laundry and showering, and case work.

Currently the center does one-on-one case medical appointments with visitors on the second floor with alternating weekly providers. The center sees 30 – 40 people a day, Werlin told DeLauro.

The center provides access to basic resources, vital documents, and case management to aid residents to begin their housing search. ​“When you’re moving around so much, it’s hard to keep track of their vital documents,” Paolillo said. ​“And without them it’s like a revolving door, making it difficult to get a job or housing.”

While working at the center, Paolillo is often making runs with visitors to City Hall to help them in-person with retrieving birth certificates, social security cards, and green cards. 

Werlin added that the center’s goal is to be a ​“one-stop” resource center with a commercial kitchen and office space for medical providers to meet visitors where they are. 

DESK Program Manager Evan Serio has been helping the center to incorporate harm reduction efforts. Serio previously worked with the Sex Workers & Allies Network (SWAN) and currently works with the Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance (CTHRA).

So far Serio has trained 12 local organizations and businesses in Narcan use and supplied places with harm reduction resources. 

The center also has implemented a three-minute door-knock protocol at the center bathroom to check in on visitors. 

DeLauro asked what the center needs most. Serio responded that ​“deeply” affordable housing is needed locally. 

Serio advocated for the Ending Homelessness Act of 2021 (H.R.4496), which would reduce the geographic area used to calculate an area’s fair market rent for voucher users.

“Without deeply affordable housing, we can’t do everything that we need for those we serve,” Serio said. ​“Right now there just isn’t enough affordable housing to help everyone out.”