Stamford nonprofit partners with motel to create homeless shelter
DANBURY — The city is poised to be the first in the state to explore a new way of sheltering and providing services for homeless individuals.
The plan is for a Stamford nonprofit to convert the Super 8 Motel, or a similar facility, into a permanent shelter for the homeless, who have been staying two-to-a-room at the motel for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic. It would be paid for by an up-to $10 million federal grant admin
istered through the state.
“This is a game changer and it will be the first in Connecticut to do something like this,” Mayor Mark Boughton said.
The city and state worked closely together on the idea in recent months as officials tried to find an alternative to shelters, where keeping individuals 6 feet apart would severely limit the number of beds.
But this idea, which the City Council approved this week, would better protect clients from the coronavirus , while creating a permanent shelter and support system for the homeless, Boughton said. Some of the rooms may become permanent housing for clients.
“It really ticks off a lot of boxes,” Boughton told City Council members at a meeting this week.
Seila Mosquera-Bruno, the state housing commissioner, praised the local, nonprofit and state partnership that has made this possible.
“What better opportunity to be able to provide housing to the homeless population in a way that is safe,” she told City Council. “The pandemic — it’s not going to go anywhere soon. Having this opportunity where people can actually be in a shelter, can be housed and some units can be permanent housing, we couldn’t ask for more.”
Permanent housing partnership
Pacific House, a Stamford-based nonprofit that for 35 years has provided shelter and services for the homeless, will run the new facility and offer programs like case management.
“As an organization throughout the years, certainly we’ve been a leader in this space,” said Rafael Pagan Jr., executive director of Pacific House. “We’re also very proud of the innovations we bring forward.”
The nonprofit offers meals and 24/7 emergency shelter in Stamford, in addition to programs focused on recovery program and young men age 18 to 24, he said.
“The services that Rafael brings to the table is exceptional,” Mosquera-Bruno said. “And having a partnership with the city, I think that is going to be a win-win situation.”
The nonprofit has more resources and access to a donor base that the city does not, Boughton said.
Through its case management, Pacific House focuses on finding permanent housing for clients.
“Once someone gets into the shelter, the goal is to get them into the appropriate setting for them, whether that is an individual city housing option or a shared living situation,” said Jerome Roberts, associate executive director of the nonprofit. “It’s what fits that individual person.”
Placing these individuals into permanent housing has been a key goal for some time for the city, which has been looking for a centralized location to support the homeless.
A Community Care Team provides wraparound support to clients, and housed 84 people and assisted 209 clients between January 2015 and January 2020. The city has also discussed turning a Danbury Housing Authority building on Elm Street into apartments for the homeless.
Most recently, the city has housed 32 individuals who had been staying at the motel, said Kara Prunty, acting director of health. As of Monday, there were 43 people living at Super 8, she said.
The city’s health department can still run its own programs and will work closely with Pacific House.
“I don’t see this as something where Pacific House is going to start operations and just do whatever they want to do,” Prunty said. “We all have the same goal and we want to help and house our homeless population.”
Winter is coming
To create the shelter, the city will apply for a federal Community Development Block Grant tied to the coronavirus. This grant is administered through the state, with the money going to Pacific House to buy the shelter.
Negotiations with the Super 8 Motel are ongoing, but the nonprofit could go with another facility if the motel does not work out, Boughton said.
With winter a few months away, the shelter has to be set up “sooner rather than later,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dorothy Day Hospitality House is unsure how the plan will affect its 16-bed nonprofit shelter, which closed in March due to the pandemic.
“It’s going to be hard to adjust or predict what the impact is going to be until the details get worked out,” volunteer Joe Simons said.
This includes whether the new facility could meet increased demand in the winter. Factors like this will determine how and whether the shelter reopens, he said.
“It all depends on what the needs are,” said Simons, adding the organization has focused on providing lunches to the homeless at the motel and grab-and-go meals to the increased number of people in need.
The new shelter would be big enough to fit additional people on cold nights, Pagan said. In comparison, the Stamford shelter may need to reduce to 40 to 42 beds due to the pandemic, whereas around 100 individuals used to fit in the winter.
“If there is a need to expand (in Danbury), we have the ability and the capacity to do so and do it safely,” Pagan said.