Overflow Shelter Closes Early

Richard McClendon was waiting to get into the Columbus House overflow shelter for his last night inside. Starting Tuesday night, amid projected near-freezing temperatures, he and dozens of other men will have nowhere to sleep.

McClendon (at right in photo) said he has no other place to stay. Neither does Ronald Watkins (at left). Watkins said he’s considering faking an asthma attack to earn a night in the hospital.

McClendon and Watkins are just two of the 75 to 100 men who regularly stay at the Columbus House overflow shelter on Cedar Street. The shelter normally stays open from the fall until the end of May, but not this year. A shortage of funds meant Monday was the last night.

“It’s a really bad night,” said Alison Cunningham, executive director of the Columbus House homeless services agency.

She explained how the early closing came about. Up until two years ago, the city funded the overflow shelter to stay open during the six coldest months of the year. Then the city cut the funding by two thirds. Thanks to a massive fundraising effort last year, Columbus House was able to raise the money to keep it open six months. But this year was different.

“Last year it was seen as a crisis,” Cunningham said. People were happy to give for a one-off emergency. ​“You can’t expect people to do that two years in a row.”

The shelter has a capacity of 75; it often holds a few dozen more than that. Men get a place to stay, dinner, and breakfast, Cunningham said.

The closing means hard times for the men who rely on the beds and the meals. ​“It’s bad for the guys who have no place to stay,” Cunningham said.

“I wish we didn’t have to close the shelter,” she said. ​“We’ve exhausted the possibilities.”

New Haven spends more money on homelessness than any other municipality in Connecticut, but it’s still not enough, Cunningham said.

“It’s apparent to us that we have reached the end of the line here,” said Ed Mattison, one of the principals at Inside At Night, an organization that raises money for homeless shelters.

Mattison helped raise money for the overflow shelter this year. ​“Many of the donors said, ​‘Don’t come back,’” he said. The demand for money for homelessness is overwhelming, Mattison said.

The overflow shelter will not be able to continue as it has, Mattison predicted. ​“In the form in which it is presently operating, this is unquestionably the last year.”

Non-profit organizations are not well suited to running temporary shelters, he said. ​“My own view is that winter sheltering has to be a government function.”

To close the shelter early is bad, Mattison said. To close it early and on short notice is even worse. The men at the shelter were informed only last week that Monday would be the last night.

“I think it is risky,” Mattison said. ​“People have to go somewhere. … You will see a lot of people on the green.”

At the shelter on Monday afternoon, McClendon and others predicted that the town green will be overrun with homeless men. ​“It’s going to be all hell in New Haven.”

McClendon said he won’t stay at the city’s other overflow shelter, on Grand Avenue. ​“It’s nasty in there.”

The Grand Avenue shelter has also suffered from a lack of funding. People have complained about crime and unsanitary conditions at that shelter.

“I’m getting a tent,” promised a man sitting nearby, who declined to give his name. ​“I’m not going to Grand Avenue. Your shit will be stolen.”

McClendon, who’s 50, said he has been homeless since 2008, when he was released from prison. Most of his family is deceased. He has a disabled brother with an apartment in town, but he won’t take him in, McClendon said.

“I have to focus on now where I’m going to sleep tomorrow night,” he said.

Watkins, who’s 55, said he’s been homeless for a month, since he lost his apartment. He didn’t know where he would be sleeping on Tuesday night.

“I don’t know. I have no idea. Maybe in the hospital,” he said. ​“I’ll fake an asthma attack if I have to.”

Watkins said he would like to get a list of names of the people affected by the shelter closing and take it to the mayor, to encourage him to make more funding available.

Perry Koutroulas, another man who’s been staying at the shelter, said he was confident it would stay open. Yale can’t afford to have homeless men all over the green when it comes time for graduation, he said. ​“You’ve got tourists coming.”

Koutroulas predicted Yale would ​“kick the money up” to keep it open. ​“I’d be very surprised if they don’t come up with a plan tonight.”