WARMING UP TO TASK
The Ulster County Warming Shelter has met the challenges of handling sudden needs for its services and dealing with COVID-19 requirements
In the past several weeks, two fires at city boarding houses temporarily displaced 65 residents, testing the mettle of Ulster County’s homeless services.
A Dec. 9 blaze at 79-83 Green St. left 28 residents homeless and on Nov. 20, another accidental fire at 21 Elizabeth St. temporarily displaced 37 residents.
In an email, County Executive Pat Ryan said Ulster County was able to handle the increased load and is ready for situations of that nature if and when they occur.
“Yes, we have been able to accommodate all of the individuals that sought services from us as a result of these recent events,” Ryan wrote. “With regard to the fires, the American Red Cross is the provider of first responsibility and did initially provide services and supports to many of the affected individuals. We always have additional facilities that we can reach out to and our system is designed to accommodate increases in the homeless population.”
Ryan said many of those who were affected by the fires made their own arrangements and didn’t end up needing county services at all.
For those who are in need of temporary shelter — for whatever reason — Ulster County Social Services, in a collaboration with Catholic Charities, operates the Ulster County Warming Center at the 2nda
Iglesia La Mision, an Assemblies of God Church at 80 Elmendorf St. in Midtown Kingston.
Dominique Wallace-Mills of Catholic Charities administers the Ulster County Warming Center. She said the walk-in facility opens at 7 p.m. and closes at 9 a.m. the following day whenever the temperature drops below 32 degrees, but it can stay open continuously when severe cold or wintry weather strikes.
“We provide a necessary respite from the cold. We’ve been blessed,” WallaceMills said. “It’s a necessity in this day and time.”
The shelter is staffed by two workers and a security guard, she said. Additionally, a program coordinator is often on site.
“Based on current data,” Ryan said, Ulster County is able to adequately “provide accommodations for its homeless population through a combination of placements in our shelters and hotels and motels.”
Wallace-Mills said the Warming Center can accommodate six to eight women and eight to 10 men in separate rooms, with an additional overflow room allowing for a total of 25 to 30 residents in a pinch. She said they have never reached capacity. Center personnel are also able to send any overflow to Family of Woodstock. That agency would be able to accommodate individuals in motels, she said.
So far this year, according to Wallace-Mills, they have not reached capacity. “I’m hoping it’s due to family and friends [saying] ‘Why don’t you stay here on my couch. Why don’t you stay here.’ … We’re ready if that should happen,” she said.
Said Ryan, “We are always closely monitoring our homelessness count in order to be prepared for the possibility of increases in the population due to a variety of circumstances. In the event that there is an increase in the emergency homelessness population, we have contingency plans in place, including expanding the roster of hotels and motels we utilize and repurposing other existing county spaces.”
The cost of operating the Warming Center is 100% reimbursed by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Ryan said. “The Warming Center is provided for under the County’s CODE BLUE PLAN. ... The plan includes all of the services necessary (including the Warming Center) to comply with the Governor’s Executive Order No 151, which requires that all social services districts, the New York State Police, local police agencies and state agencies identify homeless individuals and move those individuals to shelters and/or warming facilities when the temperatures are at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit,” Ryan wrote.
For the winter of 2020-21, the money allocated totals $357,110.
Despite the need for social distancing and increased sanitation because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryan said shelters are deemed essential services and have remained open at reduced capacity “to keep staff and clients safe.”
“The reduction in capacity has been compensated for by increasing placements in the hotels and motels that we utilize as those locations are able to handle the additional cases and equipped to comply with the social- distancing guidelines,” he said.
Wallace-Mills said that, at the Green Street warming center, beds are separated by plastic sheets for safety and masks are required of both staff and guests. The facility is “following all COVID protocols,” she added.
Upon arrival, she said, guests’ temperatures are taken and transportation is available in the event that anyone who arrives is not well. So far, Wallace-Mills said, there have been no cases of the virus among her staff or guests.
“As far as safety, we’re probably one of the safest places you could be because it’s an intimate environment,” she said. “There’s always staff. Clean, freshly washed linens are provided to guests upon arrival, surfaces are sanitized and bleached and the staff “is constantly making sure the guests are wearing masks.”
Wallace-Mills said individually packaged hot meals are cooked by volunteers from Family of Woodstock at the Everett Hodge Community Center on Broadway and are provided to guests whenever the center is open.
“We’re proud of what we do and I’m proud of my staff,” she said. “You know we’re just trying to do what the mission says, right? Help those in need.”
For more information about Catholic Charities Community Services, call (845) 340-9170 or visit them online at https://catholiccharities- dutchesscounty. org/about/our-affiliates/.