WPCNR THE HOMELESS NEWS. By John F. Bailey. December 6, 2007. UPDATED December 7, 2007 UPDATED 5:24 PM EST DECEMBER 7, 2007: Donna Greene of the Westchester County Department of Communications confirmed this afternoon that the Vaughn Glanton shelter in Mount Vernon will be closing as of December 14.

Meanwhile the City of White Plains, the clergy, and Westchester County continue to consider opening a White Plains Warming Shelter.

Ms. Greene said in a statement today:  "the Westhab shelter is closing because there is a separate 25-bed drop in in Mt Vernon that is still open and is in fact under-utilized.  We have had success in Mount Vernon getting people into the regular shelter system, where they get services. So this accounts for the lack of use of the other shelters."

The WestHab Warming Center (Vaughn Glanton at Vernon Plaza) which had been open previously, WPCNR was told by Karl Bertrand of the Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless that the County has decided to close the Mount Vernon Westhab Warming Shelter in one week. This drops the number of Warming Centers for undomiciled persons in the county to four, where homeless can sleep in a warm place but only chairs are provided.  Bertrand said "It seems as if the county is concentrating on removing the safety nets rather than providing them."

Bertrand added this information Friday morning: "There will however still be a fourth safety net resource: the drop-in  safety net shelters run in Yonkers by the Sharing Community, which fit together with their HUD-funded day-time drop-in center to make a coherent 24-hour safety net program.
Theirs is the only city with a comprehensive program that doesn't leave homeless people out on the street with nowhere to go for hours  every day."

They are located in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Peekskill:

Vaughn Glanton at Vernon Plaza, run by Westhab will no longer be available after December 14. Only Friendship Worship Center will be open in Mount Vernon.

Bertrand said that negotiations are continuing behind the scenes on the White Plains Warming Center plan where churches would alternate providing a warming center, with Grace Church Community Services providing the professional expertise. Bertrand added that the Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless is planning demonstrations to coincide with the opening of the Ritz Carlton Westchester in White Plains to dramatize the lack of a warming center in White Plains.