Asher Joseph photo
Joel Davis (right) at Columbus House: "We all just want to feel safe.”
Pencils scratched against paper and voices intertwined as clients and staff at Columbus House came together in the shelter’s sleeping quarters to reimagine its Ella T. Grasso Boulevard location — which is projected to add as many as 96 single rooms in a construction project to begin later this year.
That soon-to-materialize homeless shelter addition will provide a private room for every client — and, if the visions of Columbus House clients come to fruition, it will feature air conditioning, movie-night-ready TVs, and a flourishing community garden as well.
The building at 586 Ella T. Grasso Boulevard currently hosts Columbus House’s administrative offices. The homeless services provider plans to transform that building into a new shelter space for adults without housing, with a new priority on the privacy and comfort of clients.
Roughly 40 people gathered in the shelter’s sleep quarters on Wednesday evening to offer input on the architectural design of that soon-to-be-overhauled space.
The upcoming renovation marks an effort on the part of a major homeless services organization in the city to shift from a congregate shelter system, in which clients sleep in communal rooms, to a setup in which clients stay in private rooms.
Currently, the New Haven shelter’s sleeping quarters are arranged in a dormitory-style building, granting clients limited personal space. Advocates of a non-congregate model have argued that unhoused people deserve more privacy and a stronger sense of safety and control in the shelter system.
Columbus House had previously attempted to acquire a hotel with the help of the city to convert into a supportive housing complex, but the deal ultimately fell through. Since then, the state Department of Housing approved a pre-development loan last fall that will enable Columbus House’s New Haven shelter to establish its own non-congregate housing.
The project, made possible by the state housing grant, seeks to provide infectious-disease safe shelter space for houseless residents.
Columbus House's current sleep facilities, which can accommodate up to eighty one clients.
The new building will feature as many as 96 single rooms with adjacent bathrooms, referred to as “micro-units,” that will promote privacy and autonomy for the shelter’s clients. Columbus House’s current facilities can accommodate 81 adults, as well as an additional 12 clients recovering from hospital stays in a medical respite ward.
Columbus House CEO Margaret Middleton opened Wednesday’s event, thanking the attendees for their willingness to participate in the workshop before explaining the shelter’s plans to increase capacity.
The shelter’s annex, which currently houses Columbus House’s offices, will feature several new stories to be converted into private rooms. The offices will then relocate to the current sleeping quarters. Construction is projected to begin this winter, and finish in late January 2024.
Margaret Middleton and Hill Alder Evelyn Rodriguez at Wednesday's workshop.
Middleton said that the loan will cover the costs of architects, construction, and zoning lawyers, but there is not a sufficient amount of money available to fund the new building’s operation. “Securing ongoing funding to operate additional shelter beds beyond our current capacity is a different challenge,” she said. “It will only be feasible to operate additional shelter beds with a significant investment by the state government.”
However, based on her experience with New Haven’s legislative delegation, Middleton is confident that they will somehow find a way to support the project.
Yale School of Medicine Director of Community Organizing Billy Bromage and Co-Director of Citizens Project at the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health Bridgett Williamson facilitated the workshop, splitting attendees into three groups to discuss assigned prompts.
Those prompts included:
What are some architectural factors that should be considered in order to make the new facility a home for residents?
What are some architectural factors that should be considered in order to make the new facility a part of the community?
What are some ways that the community in the new facility and the surrounding community can engage with one another?
“After the workshop, we will generate a report using the data and feedback collected from the event to inform the architects about homeless residents’ vision for the building,” said Bromage.
The groups eagerly began discussing their vision for the new building, advocating for amenities from career counseling to kitchen access.
“TVs! So we can have movie nights,” one participant called out. Others chimed in with their own suggestions, excited by the prospect of having a space tailored to their needs.
“We need religious services — and air conditioning.”
“A community garden would help us connect with the surrounding neighborhoods.”
“We need to hold disrespectful clients and impatient staff accountable, because at the end of the day, we all just want to feel safe,” said Joel Davis, a Columbus House resident who has been staying at the New Haven shelter for the past two months.
A draft of the new building's residential layout.
Davis first became homeless in 2013. He started out sleeping on a bench at Union Station. He has since lived in warming centers throughout New Haven.
According to multiple Columbus House residents, the shelter’s system of administering medication to clients violates HIPAA privacy requirements. Davis proposed that rather than receiving their prescribed dosages in busy hallways, clients should be granted private rooms where nurses can administer medication.
Throughout the discussions, participants murmured their approval, often interjecting with related ideas. Among the chorus of voices was Rolanda Davis, a client who turned to Columbus House last month. “I want to see mutual respect between the clients and the staff. Everyone is going through different situations, so the new building will only be successful if we help each transition out of those struggles.”
Rolanda Davis.
“So many of the things that our guests prioritize are the qualities we all desire — safety, privacy and natural light were high on the list,” said Middleton after two hours of lively discussion. “I would love it if we could incorporate some of the more fanciful ideas people shared, like using beautiful photographs of our beautiful local parks and shoreline as decoration or an outdoor movie night at Columbus House!”
Davis said she would one day like to see the riches of Nigeria and the hieroglyphics of Egypt, but for now, she is thankful to Columbus House for providing New Haven’s homeless community with a sanctuary, and looks forward to an increased sense of autonomy with the introduction of private rooms. “Right now, I have and will have a place to sleep, and that’s what matters. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
A spirited member of the discussion, Joel Davis emphasized the theme of autonomy. “We’re adults, not prisoners, and we deserve to be treated as such.”
See below for more recent Independent articles about homelessness, activism, and attempts to find shelter.
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The article speaks both of a grant and a loan. What is the funding mix for this project? As it is, it sounds like there is no secure revenue for operating, and a loan would simply increase the revenue shortfall.