WPCNR THE HOMELESS NEWS. By John F. Bailey. November 16, 2007: WPCNR has learned that only one Warming Shelter at present is being considered to provide an overnight sojourn for homeless persons left to wander the streets and sleep outdoors or on the streets about the downtown since August 6 when Westchester County closed the 85 Court Street Drop In. There has been no agreement to host the shelter yet by the three downtown churches approached with the plan.
Stella Aviles, Assistant to Reverend Carter Via of The Presbyterian Church of White Plains, said that the plan has been presented to three churches in the White Plains downtown. The plan calls for Grace Church Community Services to staff one shelter, containing 19 cots, which will alternate between the three churches for two week periods of operation at each church.
Aviles reports that no church has given a definite go-ahead on the plan as of 5 PM Thursday evening.
Aviles said first approval from the church congregations was needed, then approval from the City of White Plains, and then funding would be arranged, which she expected would be from the county. Aviles said that Grace Community Services would provide the professional staff, including counselors to monitor and manage the shelter. Though Aviles said one church had volunteers who wished to work in the Warming Center, but the shelter could not be established without professional staff.
Aviles said approval from the churches was being sought as soon as possible, then a formal presentation of the one-shelter plan (apparently) would be made to the City of White Plains, thentaken to the county to secure the funding.
Mayor Joseph Delfino in the special Work Session last month, said the city would consider the shelter once the clergymen had a concrete proposal and location, and the city would consider a Special Permit to open such a shelter if it housed only 19 beds. The special meeting called to consider the concerns of Rabbi Lester Bronstein and Reverend Via that they felt the county asking them to provide warming shelters with just chairs was “inhumane.” It is unclear whether the county only wanted one warming shelter in White Plains.
In a related development, Donna Green of the Department of Communications of Westchester County said the county did not have demographic breakouts available for undetermined number of persons who spent nights at the 85 Court Street for the 18 months it was in operation. At the time the county opened the 85 Court Street Drop In Shelter, it promised to keep stringent records of who stayed at the shelter signing them in each night.
For the record, as WPCNR writes this report, at midnight in White Plains outside the WPCNR newsroom it is 42 degrees and clear.
