IN FROM THE COLD
County warming center adapts to new home in Midtown church
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> The Ulster County warming center is adjusting well to its new home at 2nda Iglesia La Mision, an Assemblies of God Church at 80 Elmendorf St. in Midtown Kingston.
The center, operated by Catholic Charities under a three-year contract with the Ulster County Department of Social Services, opens whenever the temperature drops below 32 degrees. It first was used at the Elmendorf Street church in early November 2019.
Last year, the center was at the AME Zion Church at 26 Franklin St., also in Midtown. Before that, it was at the Clinton Avenue United Methodist Church at 122 Clinton Ave.
Dominique Wallace-Mills, Ulster County regional supervisor for Catholic Charities, said more than two dozen peo
ple stayed in the warming center Sunday night, when the temperature dove to about 30 degrees after an unseasonable daytime high in the 60s.
The county’s Division of Emergency Management lets Catholic Charities know when to activate the shelter, Wallace-Mills said.
The shelter typically opens at 7 p.m. and closes at 9 a.m. the next day, but it can stay open continuously when severe cold or wintry weather strikes, Wallace-Mills said.
She said there were only seven days when the shelter was not activated between November and this past weekend.
Wallace-Mills said for the first time, the shelter has amenities like showers, laundry facilities and separate rooms for the men and women who stay overnight. She said Catholic Charities learned last year how important these things were to people using
the shelter and wanted to be sure they were part of the new operations.
The shelter also provides linens for the cots, towels, toothbrushes and donated clothing.
Once just an open basement, the shelter space now has separate men’s and women’s bathrooms and a large cafeteria space where guests can eat dinner and breakfast provided by Family of Woodstock. There also is a TV in a hallway that connects the shelter’s rooms.
Wallace-Mills said the cafeteria can double as sleeping space is the room where the cots are located overflows.
The shelter is staffed by two people plus a security guard.
Fernando Salazar, the church’s pastor, said the materials to construct the shelter cost about $25,000, all of which was raised through the donations from his 150-200-member congregation, made up of a largely immigrant population. Everything was built with volunteer labor, he said.
Salazar said the congregation started in Saugerties with just
six people. It now is housed in a 170-year-old building that was once a First Presbyterian Church.
Wallace-Mills said the shelter serves only the homeless, some whom have income but no place to live.
She said she recognizes some of this winter’s clients from a year ago, which saddens her. But she also is glad they feel safe coming back to the shelter.
Wallace-Mills said shelters in larger cities sometimes can be dangerous.
“We wanted it to be different, we wanted to do it with dignity and humanity,” she said. “It’s not a dirty old place. People have a nice room with a clean cot, a clean bathroom, and they can take a shower.”
Wallace-Mills said even though the shelter’s staff is tasked with cleaning the space, many of people who stay over pitch in with the cleaning.
Wallace-Mills said she believes the shelter’s location in a church commands a respect from the people who stay there, though sometimes Salazar, the pastor, has
to gently remind people to only smoke in a designated area and to not use foul language, she said.
“People try to have that respect; they realize it’s a church,” she said.
Wallace-Mills also said friendships often form between the people who use the shelter.
“The bonds are amazing. These guys are best friends, they’re inseparable even at the lowest points in their lives,” she said.
Salazar said he comes by every day to check on the shelter.
“I feel good every time I come here,” he said. “I learn a lot.”
Wallace-Mills said she and the others who oversee the shelter try to keep the guest informed about what programs and services are available through Catholic Charities, as well as other local assistance agencies, like The People’s Place’s.
For more information about Catholic Charities Community Services, call (845) 340-9170. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The organization’s food pantry, at 6 Adams St., Suite 3, in Downtown Kingston, is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays.