Warming Centers Open, While City Looks To Long-Term Homeless Fixes

Short-term cold-weather ​“warming centers” opened Tuesday while the city and a nonprofit separately prepared to figure out how to spend a combined $7 million on long-term solutions for the homeless.

Officials gathered on East Street at the faith-based addiction recovery and life crisis ​“180 Center” to announce that homeless people seeking to escape potentially deadly cold weather can walk in there any time between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. through mid-April to hang out, rest, warm up with coffee or a snack. A second warming center also opens Tuesday at Upon This Rock Ministries on Grand Avenue.

The city plans to open two more warming centers in coming weeks — at Varick AME Memorial Church and the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen — along with a winter overflow shelter at Columbus House. The facilities have a combined capacity to help up to 160 of the region’s estimated 200 homeless individuals. (Click here for details on the centers and other services for the homeless. Click here to read a previous story about a homeless encampment in the Hill.)

The centers, with fewer rules and services and accommodations than homeless shelters, are designed to help people who otherwise choose to live outside.

“We want to make sure people do not freeze on our watch,” said city homeless services coordinator Velma George (pictured above).

George also invited the public to help chart a longer-term approach to tackling homelessness in New Haven. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is sending the city $4.6 million ​“for enhancing the city’s homeless services infrastructure.” George said the city will hold public ​“stakeholder” sessions starting next month to seek advice on how to spend that money.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit homeless-housing agency New Reach announced Tuesday that it has received a five-year $2.5 million grant from a philanthropy launched by Amazon’s founder ​“to move the needle on re-housing and supporting families experiencing homelessness.” New Reach helps homeless individuals move to longer-term housing supported by social services. It said in a release that it plans to use the grant, issued by the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund, ​“to increase capacity of [New Reach’s] prevention, crisis and affordable housing tier programs by incorporating more staff with lived experience of homelessness, as well as clinical staff.”

The 180 Center already offers homeless people a walk-in warm stop and meals during the day. In helping the homeless, the center also helps other people struggling with life work toward stability in the process.

“Disciples” like James Simon (pictured at the top of the story) and Thomas Brown (above) help homeless visitors as part of a broader 18-month addiction-recovery program, which includes a focus on studying Christianity. Simon, who’s 54, said he has now been drug-free for the 14 months he has participated so far in the program. He and Brown work the day shift, so they won’t be there overnight when the warming center opens. They said they still look forward to greeting the overnight visitors upon arriving in the morning and cleaning and setting up for the day’s programs.

“Any of us could one day be homeless. Our value in New haven is to step up and help people who are struggling,” Mayor Justin Elicker (pictured above) said at Tuesday’s announcement. He called on the suburbs to help New Haven address the regional homelessness and affordable-housing challenge.