Homeless Lotto Leaves Some Out In Cold

Jason Rodriguez and Irma Vazquez gambled on the best way to land a coveted spot in a refuge from the overnight sub-freezing chill. They lost their gamble, and left with no warm place to spend the night.

Rodriguez and Vazquez, who learned two weeks ago that they are expecting a baby, were among dozens of homeless people who have been showing up daily to seek limited spots at a short-term overnight warming center stage at Breakthrough Church on Shelton Avenue right over the New Haven-Hamden line.

Landing a slot has become a competition some nights, with winners and losers. On Monday it became a homeless version of Lotto.

Columbus House has run the warming center — an alternative to homeless shelters for people at risk of freezing to death during cold spells — under contract with the Town of Hamden. This is Hamden’s third year of partnering with the Columbus House and local churches to provide housing for the homeless during the winter.

Columbus House was supposed to run the center through February under contract with the town, according to Hamden mayoral Chief of Staff Adam Sendroff. Because of Covid-19, Columbus House agreed to keep the center open in March, now under the sponsorship the Coordinated Access Network (CAN) of the United Way of Greater New Haven.

The warming center, which is scheduled to close in two weeks, has a legal occupancy limit of 25 people. As many as twice that number have shown up some evenings. In those cases, Columbus House has had to turn some people away.

On Monday staffers activated a lottery system for people waiting in line before the center opens at 6:30 p.m. The line begins forming hours in advance.

Columbus House would rather not use a lottery, noted its executive director, Margaret Middleton. It was able years ago to get rid of a lottery system for its regular homeless shelters thanks to the creation of the Coordinated Access Network.

But demand has mushroomed this winter for spots in the warming center. Last winter some nights saw six people show up. This winter, as many as 50 people arrive looking for a chance to stay indoors overnight and catch some sleep on the floor rather than remain out in the cold.

“People were lining up as early as 2 in the afternoon for a facility that doesn’t open until 6:30,” Middleton noted. ​“It’s a burden to our clients to feel they have to spend half the day waiting in line to know they are going to have a space. If we tell people, ​‘Don’t come before six, then there will be a lottery for space,’ people have time to do other things. We’re trying to be good neighbors and good service providers to our clients.”

“Warming centers are an inadequate response to a deeply important human problem,” Middleton argued. ​“As a society we should be providing people more than a mat on the floor to avoid dying from the cold. We do the best with the funding that we have. I hope that people who read a story about the warming center are bothered by the idea that there is a warming center. The solution is we need way more affordable housing, and we need it now. If people are upset about the warming center, they need to be affordable housing advocates.”

In the meantime, Columbus House has to figure out how to keep as many people warm as possible each night on Shelton Avenue.

On Monday, 25 people waited in line before the center opened. Each received a ticket. If the line exceeded capacity, people with blank tickets would not be allowed in.

Staffers asked people not to line up in advance any more.

“If you come in line before six o’clock tomorrow, you will not be able to get in,” a Columbus House staffer named Melinda informed those in line Monday, as temperatures fell below freezing. (She declined to give her last name.) ​“So when the staff comes early to get set up and prepared, if you’re already in line, they will not be able to let you in tomorrow.”

Rodriguez and Vazquez said they had received the same warning in the past, so on Monday they waited until 6 p.m. to appear. They showed up to learn that the center was already at maximum capacity.

Others on line Monday said Monday that they had received permission from a Breakthrough Church deacon to wait outside.

“The deacon doesn’t have anything to do with this program. This is just their building. We run the program,” Melinda responded. ​“You could take it how you want it. People shouldn’t be here as early as you are, and what it’s doing is causing other people to come back even earlier. And we shouldn’t be on the property until six o’clock.”

Ailedzul Laboy, who has been staying at the warming center for two weeks, said the difference between the homeless shelter and a warming center is that in order to receive a spot in a homeless shelter you have to go through the 211 service to land housing.

“The other differences are that here we sleep on the floor,” Laboy said. ​“If you don’t have a blanket then you freeze.”

Eddy Rodriguez arrived at 2 p.m. Monday to reserve a spot. He said he has been making use of the Columbus House warming center after he lost his tree-cutting job upon the end of the season, and he became homeless.

Rodriguez said that this is not his first rodeo of being out in the streets. He said he has struggled with substance abuse; he stated that he has been able to stay clean for over five years.

“We’re not here because we want to be here. We’ve just had bad times. Everyone has their own issues,” he said.

Hamden Legislative Council member Justin Farmer lives across from Breakthrough Church. He has witnessed people lining up six to 12 hours prior to opening of the warming center.

He said that neighbors are upset that the homeless are relieving themselves outside due to the lack of public bathrooms, especially heightened by the pandemic.

“The bigger problem is that in order to get a housing voucher, to potentially land housing, you have to prove that you’re homeless,” Farmer said. ​“How to identify that you’re homeless is by accessing services. We have so many people that are housing insecure. You have individuals who call 211 and they can’t get a case manager. Maybe they got a voucher for housing but nobody wants to take them or the amount of money they got a voucher for isn’t enough to rent.”

Farmer predicted many more people are going to be put in similar desperate straits once an eviction moratorium expires.

“That protection will end,” Farmer said. ​“If we can’t handle a level of displacement of housing now, what are we going to do? People are just trying to survive.”

Melanie Camacho, one of the people waiting in line Monday, said she received a bachelor of applied science degree last year. She said she became homeless in January. She said she fell prey to both domestic violence and an eviction. Camacho said she suffers from chronic arthritis in her knees and lymphedema.

Some nights she has failed to land a spot in the warming center. So she has slept under a highway.

“This issue where we can’t line up here. This is the safest place for me to sit,” Camacho said. ​“I can’t wander this neighborhood being a female by myself. I will come up missing.”

“This is where we come to try to get back on our feet. Try and come to get some rest,” Camacho said. ​“It’s been rough. There’s a lack of compassion but they get plenty of funding.”

Crystal McKay (pictured) said with being homeless, disabled, and of older age, she hopes that additional warming centers can become available in the future. She made number 19 on Monday’s lottery.

“Why do we have to walk the street all day? Some people here are disabled, some people have mental illness, and I think they put everyone in a stigma,” McKay said. ​“Calling 211 is a hassle too because they put you on a list and make you wait. Back in the day, there was no 211. You just went to the shelter and got in. Now, they just make it hard for people to get a place.”

Chuck McClary, a veteran, said he left a drug-infested area in Waterbury and moved to New Haven two months ago with the idea to turn his life around, he said.

“I heard that if you had chronic homelessness, they would situate you with a place for housing. There’s a lot more resources here than there is in Waterbury,” McClary said. ​“This is acceptable. It’s a warming center. It’s not a bed and breakfast, so to say.”

McClary said that in two weeks time he hopes that he will receive further assistance and get a place to stay.

“If they don’t assist, then I’ll have to have a plan B,” McClary said. ​“I can’t rely on them individually. It’s not as if they have to do it for me. No, it’s a privilege to be here. I respect that.”

At 6:40 p.m. Monday, the doors of the warming center opened. After hours of waiting, the 25 people on line picked up their belongings and rushed inside. They’d been told they could all come in, because the line had not exceeded the 25-person limit.

Until Rodriguez and Vazquez appeared at the scheduled time. They were told they were out of luck.

Rodriguez and Vazquez headed back into the cold night.

“The rule they make [is]: Be here exactly at this time,” Rodriguez said. ​“I’m one of the people that came at time. Not any earlier. Why can’t I get a spot? I listened to their rules, and now I’m still out here.”