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Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD The sound of hammers reverberates through the CYO basketball gym next to the York Street Jail. Two volunteers set up rows of metal beds that were once in the former jail now they will be used for the city's homeless. It is Aug. 31, the day before the Warming Place will move from the site it has used for the summer the former St. Joseph's Church on Howard Street and Linda Randall, the program coordinator for the shelter operation for Open Pantry Community Services, Inc., is getting the new facility ready. The beds, she notes, were power-washed and sanitized before they were assembled. Fifty-five of them are for men and 20, set up in a separate area, will be for women. The shelter at the church had a capacity of 75 people and Randall said they were full most nights this summer. While two volunteers assemble beds, another three wash down the gym's locker room and the area that will be used for socializing and serving snacks. The smell of pine-scented cleaner is heavy in the air. The new space "feels larger," she said, with its tall gym ceilings. Although there are windows for light, none of them can open and the ventilation for the area is from one fan in the ceiling and from open doors. While Randall is pleased the facility will have showers, she admitted that organization would be crucial to their proper use. There are two stalls in the one locker room, which means Randall and her staff will have to maintain separate times for men and women to use the facility and that shelter guests must sign up in advance for the showers. Next to the locker room is an area that Randall will use for food storage and distribution. A soda refrigerator has been left for her use and she will also install a microwave oven. She has no sink as yet, but plans to modify a mop sink in the locker room for running water. The gym will be the home for the shelter until March 31, 2006. In the interim, city officials will develop a plan for a permanent home for the shelter. Randall said that since October 2004, the shelter has been in five locations. The gym is over-looked by a second floor room, which Randall noted would have been "perfect" as a women's area, but due to the staffing levels established by the contract with the city to operate the shelter, it can not be used. Randall explained there are two staff members at the shelter at all times and having one on each floor could pose a security risk. Once temperatures fall, the shelter will operate a "no turn-away" policy and people will sleep on mattresses directly on the floor, if needed. Randall expressed concern over the challenges of having a homeless shelter on an access road for an interstate highway. She said that among her current regular guests there are five who use canes, six or seven over the age of 60, one who needs a walker and one person who temporarily uses a wheelchair. Walking down either side of Columbus Avenue and crossing under Interstate 91 pose safety issues, she added. Randall said there have been discussions about a van that would pick up those who are not able-bodied, but no source of funding has been identified. Randall said that the shelter is always in need of snack items, toiletries, blankets and sheets. People interested in making donations can call Randall at 746-8703. *** City Councilor Domenic Sarno told Reminder Publications that there were "minor" issues in the two months or so the shelter was on Howard Street. Sarno's agency (he is executive director of the South End Community Center) is a neighbor of St. Joseph's Church, as is the Zanetti School. Residents and business owners in the South End were concerned about the impact the shelter would have on the neighborhood. Sarno said those incidents included people drinking in alleyways and breaking down a fence to make a lean-to, but over-all he said the experience "went pretty well." Sarno does believe the neighborhood will continue to feel some impact since the homeless will have to travel through the South End to reach the new shelter. He said that what is needed in the treatment of the homeless is not just an over-night shelter, but one that provides a place to stay during the day and programs to help the homeless with their situations. "The day stay is a key [to solving the homeless problem]," he said. Sarno recounted a story of a teenager who was using the shelter after his parents barred him from their Wilbraham home. He said that adjoining communities should help pay for homeless services. There is a difference between those people who are homeless and those who are "vagrants," he added. He said he frequently receives calls about public drinking and panhandling. Sarno will host a meeting at 4 p.m. on Sept. 13 at City Hall with Acting Police Commissioner William Fitchet and the city's law department to determine what can be done about the problem. "We can't keep putting out the welcome mat for vagrants," he said. *** Mark Dupont, the spokeperson for the Diocese of Springfield, said that since the shelter has left St. Joseph's, the Diocese has classified the property as "surplus," and will market it to a new owner. Sacred items from the church have been removed and stored and other features have been made available to other parishes, he explained. What do you think about the new location for The Warming Place Shelter? Click on the 'Speak Out' link to share your view. |
