The City of Gloversville is now operating a Code Blue emergency shelter, made possible in part with American Rescue Plan Act funds. Volunteers are now needed to help run the facility.
Gloversville Mayor Vince DeSantis said last week he noticed a facility that could work as a possible Code Blue emergency shelter, where those in need can take shelter on cold nights no questions asked.
So he reached out to the owner of the former VFW hall.
“I think Monday or Tuesday of last week I contacted the owner of the building – because we were casting around for a place to operate a Code Blue shelter – and I asked him if he would be willing to lease the building or a portion of the building so that we could do that. And he said, ‘No, no, I can’t do that because I’m getting it ready for sale and I don’t want to enter into a lease for the next few months, because it would interfere with marketing the building for sale.’ And I just moved on, trying to find another spot. And then he called me on Wednesday – this would be Wednesday of last week – and said, ‘Why don’t you come and look at this building?’
So DeSantis, the city clerk, and building inspector headed over that day.
“And we went through the building and we found it was absolutely perfect for a couple things that we really wanted to do in Gloversville, and that we were gearing up to do. And that’s, first of all, having an emergency shelter, a Code Blue shelter in the wintertime, and also a recreational facility,” said DeSantis.
The city acted quickly. DeSantis said the city had set aside $200,000 in ARPA funding for an emergency shelter, and $150,000 for a rec center.
The city entered a lease with the facility and a purchase agreement for the building, which is priced at $170,000 dollars.
“So we’re hoping to have a closing within the next few months and own the building and be able to retrofit it for our purposes. But this is going to give us so much more capability in terms of serving the youth of the city and actually having something much more robust in terms of programming for summer enrichment and even an afterschool program,’ said DeSantis.
DeSantis said support for the facility has been “amazing.”
With the paperwork completed, by Friday the Code Blue shelter was operating.
Marcia Weiss, Gloversville’s Ward 1 city councilor, is volunteering to coordinate operations at the shelter. She said the community has come together.
“Everybody has been so helpful, I can’t even explain it. I mean, businesses, individuals, bringing stuff to the center, bringing stuff to city hall so that we could transport it over to the Code Blue shelter…”
Weiss, who is a retired property manager herself, said the same day the city signed the contract, a crew with 518Renovations came by and donated their time to build a wall separating the men’s and women’s area.
The biggest demand now is for volunteers. Weiss said she’s been working with the county to get interested volunteers CPR certified. She admitted the shelter is not an easy thing to volunteer for.
“You know, you have to come in at 6 o’clock at night, and you’re in there until 8 o’clock the next morning. Ideally, we would like to have two people in there at all times. I’d like to say that’s what’s been happening, but it has not,” said Weiss.
Longterm, Weiss said she is looking for support from the Department of Social Services.
“We’re hoping that along with DSS, the county will do the paperwork that is required so we can get grant money to reimburse the city for all the expenses that we’re having to pay for this. Right now, we’re very lucky because we had an ARPA grant to pay for the building and pay for the things it needs to have done,” said Weiss.
Weiss is encouraging anyone interested in volunteering at Gloversville's Code Blue to contact her at 518-774-5114.
