WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VOICE. December 2, 2004: For twenty five years Samaritan House has been run out of the Grace Episcopal Church annex on Church Street. Its presence underscored the steady decline of the White Plains downtown over the last two decades of the twentieth century.

 In the last three weeks, Grace Church Community Services reluctance to justify the need for a 37% budget increase request to the Department of Social Services (D.S.S.) has resulted in Grace Church Community Services taking the step of closing the center, according to the County. Grace Church denies this, saying the county D.S.S. said they would not be given a contract, though the contract is in the county budget.

SAMARITAN HOUSE AND SOUP KITCHEN ON CHURCH STREET. Photo by WPCNR News.

A meeting is being called by County Legislator William Ryan for either next Tuesday or Wednesday to mediate the dispute between the Department of Social Services and Grace Church, with the likelihood the county will find the money because it is a nice thing to do, without substantiation of financial need. Grace Church is charging itself an extra $70,000 in rent to make up the deficit it says it is running.

The Church contends they are forced to carry personnel to staff for nineteen according to state rules, even though only 12 persons live there free in the heart of down town and apparently do not wish to move out. Most likely the shelter will be funded and kept open. But, given the dwindling need, as evidenced by the lower numbers of clients they service, the refusal of Grace Church to indicate how swiftly homeless women are rehabbed and moved out of the shelter, as well as the lines for the soup kitchen operation the Grace Church operates, maybe it is time for Grace Church to find another location for the shelter or close it down.

This may be a moot point if Louis Cappelli starts rehabilitating the premises to the tune of a million dollars in services.  The homeless women may be unable to stay there during rehabilitation of the annex, anyway for safety reasons, an issue that will be carefully looked at by the authorities once building permits are filed.  

How do Mr. and Mrs. White Plains feel about keeping the homeless shelter open in the heart of the downtown? Vote your views in the poll at the right.