City leaves homeless out in cold

By Anika Singh

It's getting cold out. It's November—of course it's getting cold. We've all started taking out our gloves, scarves, and earmuffs—accessories we haven't seen since last March.

The city of New Haven, however, does not recognize the cold weather until much later. Instead of opening its winter homeless overflow shelter the day the temperature drops below freezing, New Haven traditionally waits until the first day of December.

The overflow shelter exists to accommodate the greater numbers of homeless seeking shelter in the winter months. There are two year-round emergency shelters in New Haven: Immanuel Baptist Shelter and Columbus House. These two shelters have been consistently full since the beginning of October. Turned away by the full shelters, people are forced to bear the cold on the city streets. Meanwhile, on Cedar Street, there is an empty shelter with 50 empty beds.

In response to the city's inaction, We the People, a grassroots advocacy group comprised of homeless individuals, held a rally on the steps of City Hall on Mon., Nov. 2. Homeless people, community members, alders, and Yale students came together to tell Mayor DeStefano and the Board of Aldermen that they were not willing to let the city ignore the most basic needs of its poorest citizens. In the words of Les Williams, a member of We the People, "We're human beings. This is about respecting human beings." In response to such pressure, the Board of Aldermen voted to open the overflow shelter on Mon., Nov. 16 this year. That isn't enough.

It is imperative that New Haven follow other cities' leads and implement a policy that ties the opening date of the shelter to the temperature. In Boston, for example, once the temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the overflow shelter opens. We the People has proposed legislation to open the shelter once the temperature is below 40 degrees and the two emergency shelters reach 90 percent capacity. The spring closing date should be determined according to a similar formula. Only then can we be sure that people are not needlessly freezing on the streets.

The amount of money necessary to extend the shelter dates is negligible. According to a student who interned at City Hall this past summer, it would cost the city $50,000 to open the shelter a month earlier. Moreover, in July, Governor John Rowland promised New Haven $1 million, earmarked for homeless services. It has not yet been determined where that money will go. It is clear that there are funds available to open the overflow shelter earlier. Nor is there a lack of demand for services. People have been sleeping in abandoned buildings, on park benches, and under bridges.

While City Hall has demonstrated some interest in improving homeless services, action has not yet replaced intention. Little concrete effort has been made to improve services for the homeless in New Haven. It is not only the city's winter overflow services that are delinquent. The city must also provide more transitional housing and residential rehabilitative services for homeless and poor people who are addicted to substances. The few existing programs are inadequate. Single women looking for transitional shelter have no available resources.

As residents of New Haven, we as a student body must take a more active role in New Haven politics. Students have historically had a significant effect on the state of homeless services in New Haven. Both the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen and Columbus House Shelter began as joint efforts by Yale students and the New Haven community. The recently formed Homeless Advisory Commission, intended to make recommendations on homeless issues to the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor, was largely the result of student pressure. By becoming active in New Haven affairs, students can pressure the city to extend the dates of the overflow shelter.

Anika Singh, the secretary of the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project (YHHAP), is a sophomore in Branford.

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