CORONAVIRUS CREATING SPACE
Ulster, Dutchess work to accommodate homeless populations during outbreak
Dutchess County has added 24-hour homeless shelter capacity for 100 people because of the need for “social distancing” amid the coronavirus outbreak, and Ulster County could do the same if necessary, the leaders of the two counties said Friday.
Dutchess County created the extra space, which can house 48 females and 52 males, by repurposing unused trailers adjacent to the county jail on North Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie. The added space will result in less congestion, and more opportunity for distancing, at the county’s existing homeless shelters.
“Since social distancing is almost impossible at most homeless shelters, we can use the dormitory-style [trailers] to help create necessary space to help prevent the further spread of this illness and increase our ability to respond to cases within the homeless population as needed,” Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said in a prepared statement.
Molinaro and Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan held a joint town hall-style meeting Friday morning on Facebook that reached more than 10,000 people. Molinaro said the new beds for the homeless would be available by Friday evening, and the shelter space next to the jail would be open around the clock.
Ulster County also is look
ing into ways to expand its homeless shelter capacity, Ryan said. He said he will “emulate” Dutchess’ approach, if necessary, but that Ulster County seems to currently have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of its homeless population.
Hudson River Housing and Mental Health America will manage the new homeless housing in Dutchess County. Dutchess Outreach will provide food.
Michael Berg, executive director of Family of Woodstock, which operates four homeless shelters in Ulster County, said the organization is doing all it can to facilitate social distancing in the shelters and is encouraging people “to stay to themselves as much as possible.”
Ulster County Department of Social Services Commissioner Michael Iapoce said the agency has extended the stays of any people who are being housed in emergency shelters “so they continue to remain in shelters or in hotels or motels.”
Iapoce and Berg said they are working with local food pantries and other providers to make sure the nutritional needs of the homeless population are being met.
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In other local coronavirus developments Friday:
• The state and the governments of local counties said there were 17 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in Ulster County, 36 in Dutchess County, 84 in Orange County, four in Greene County, eight in Sullivan County and one each in Columbia and Delaware counties. There were more than 7,100 cases statewide and 38 deaths.
• Molinaro said Dutchess County will open a drivethrough coronavirus testing site as early as Monday, though a location has not been announced. This will add to two planned sites in Ulster County — one each in the city of Kingston and village of Ellenville. They, too, are to open Monday. Ryan has said only that they will be in retail parking lots.
• SUNY New Paltz announced two of its faculty members — one in special education, the other in music — had tested positive for the virus and were under quarantine.
• Greene County issued a statement asking people to not “travel here from another county or geographic area, including Westchester County and the five boroughs of New York City,” the portions of the state with the largest number of virus cases.
• Hannaford said most of its supermarkets will shorten their hours of operation — being open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. — to allow more time for cleaning and restocking. The stores also will have a dedicated shopping period of 6 to 7 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for people who are 60 or older.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday ordered all non-essential employees in the state to work from home, forcing the closure of some small businesses altogether.
The order is expected to put more pressure on notfor-profit organizations, such as food pantries, that serve the needy.
Christine Hein, executive director of The People’s Place in Kingston, said the organization has been inundated with people looking to access its food pantry.
Hein said the organization provided 150 families with the equivalent of 3,900 meals on Wednesday, on top of the more than 4,000 “Bag Student Hunger” meals.
Hein said many of the current clients have either never used the food pantry before or haven’t been there in years.
She said the increased demand is putting a strain on the agency’s funds, especially because it has been forced to close its thrift store, its main source of funding.
Ryan, meanwhile, said hundreds of Ulster County residents have requested meal assistance from the newly launched “Project Resilience,” a community fund and local food distribution effort that aims to support residents impacted by the virus outbreak and keep restaurants afloat and their workers employed.
He said financial donations and volunteer offers also continue to flow in.
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For additional information about COVID-19 in Ulster County, go to ulstercountyny.gov/coronavirus or call the county’s COVID-19 hotline at (845) 4438888.
For Dutchess County information, go to dutchessny. gov/coronavirus or call the county’s hotline at (845) 486-3555.
The state coronavirus hotline number is (888) 3643065.
For related local stories, go to bit.ly/DFCOVID19. For live local updates from around the region, go to bit. ly/DFcovid19live.