Quantcast

City to reopen 12 shelters for homeless in borough

City to reopen 12 shelters for homeless in borough
By Anna Gustafson

More than 100 homeless individuals may once again be able to find refuge from the cold winter months in about a dozen Queens shelters that the city shuttered last year, officials said.

After months of negotiations with the city Department of Homeless Services, representatives from Queens faith−based organizations said last week they expected the city to announce at a June 17 meeting it would reopen the homeless shelters this year.

Joseph Murphy, who ran the shelter at St. Andrew Avellino in Flushing for eight years, said the city this year could reopen as many as 12 shelters.

Murphy said the shelters that could reopen include St. Andrew Avellino in Flushing, Blessed Sacrament in Jackson Heights, Community United Methodist in Jackson Heights, Church on the Hill in Flushing, Immaculate Conception in Astoria, Redeemer Episcopal in Long Island City, St. Nicholas of Tolentine in Jamaica, Sacred Heart in East Glendale, St. Kevin’s in Flushing, St. Teresa Avila in South Ozone Park, St. Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Woodside and Trinity Lutheran in Long Island City.

Each of the shelters housed about 10 men from around November to March or April every year. The shelters were open anywhere from two to five nights a week and typically offered warm meals and clean beds in which to sleep. Some programs even offered help with job searches.

DHS spokespeople said last fall they decided to close the shelters in order to run a more efficient shelter program.

“We are very excited,” Murphy said. “The volunteers are ecstatic.”

The shelters had amassed a loyal following of hundreds of volunteers throughout the borough, said Wilma Loayza, coordinator of the homeless program at Blessed Sacrament in Jackson Heights.

“We have so many volunteers, and they would all donate so much time, bring food, make up the men’s beds,” Loayza said. “It was so nice to see the men’s faces when they would come to our shelter and see they have a warm meal and a clean bed. They loved this place.”

Murphy and Loayza said the men who stayed at the shelter often were not chronically homeless but had recently lost their jobs and were not able to afford their rent.

City Councilman Tony Avella (D−Bayside), who had written letters to Mayor Michael Bloomberg in support of reopening the shelters, said he was relieved to hear the city could reverse its decision to shutter the shelters.

“A lot of the homeless population are afraid to go to the general shelters because of safety concerns,” Avella said. “At the churches they’re met with volunteers who want to be there, they’re given food and they’re treated like humans in a much more friendly atmosphere.”

Fernando Ferrarese, pastor at Immaculate Conception in Astoria, also said the smaller shelters made the men “not feel homeless.”

“They feel welcomed into a place where they can be safe and taken care of,” Ferrarese said. “They can feel really low about themselves because of the situation they’re in, and we emphasize their dignity.”

Murphy said church and city officials were to meet June 17 at St. Nicolas of Tolentine in Jamaica to go over details about which shelters will reopen. The Department for Homeless Services did not confirm which shelters would be able to house the homeless, but DHS spokeswoman Heather Janik said the agency continues to “explore which faith−bed organizations will reopen in Queens.”

Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e−mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 174.