Citing "an urgent need and cold nighttime temperatures," Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless has opened its winter shelter in Albany.
IPH program director Shahmeeka Chaney-Artis says Safe Haven is designed to serve chronically homeless adults who often struggle to find shelter due to active addictions, untreated mental health issues, or other barriers. In addition to the organization's community center Community Connections, which serves about 100 people daily, Chaney-Artis says Safe Haven functions as a low-barrier option, allowing people to find a safe place to sleep. The cold weather triggers an influx of calls around the clock from people seeking help.
The facility at 26 South Swan Street in Albany opened early this year.
"We began to see not only an increase in numbers of people using the services during the day, but an increase in the number of people were reporting that they're street homeless or staying like an abandoned building or in cars and looking for shelter," said Chaney-Artis. "And you know, with the temperature being 70 degrees during the day and 30 to 40 degrees at night. Like, you know, they're fine during the day, they can utilize Community Connections, but as far as a walk in shelter, that is low barrier without, basically, without them having to go through like the Department of Social Services or get a referral. We seem to be the only resource in Albany County."
According to the Albany County Coalition on Homelessness, a January 2024 headcount found more than a thousand unhoused people across nearly 800 households in Albany.
In September 2023 the city forced a group out of Washington Park where they had been living in tents. "We don't allow camping in our parks without a permit," Mayor Kathy Sheehan said. "And even then it's not something that we typically permit. But if those tents are being removed, they're being removed by individuals who are able to connect people to resources."
COO Kristen Giroux says the opioid epidemic and COVID share part of the blame for the uptick in the numbers of unhoused people.
"At the height of the pandemic, the numbers of people who were unsheltered and living outside was going up rapidly," said Giroux. "Fear of being in close proximity and shelters and not having their, you know, their own private space. And so there's so many contributing factors. Housing costs are increasing, and income and wages and Social Security benefits just aren't keeping up, and so a lot of people are just really living on the edge. And one little thing, you know, can kind of tip them over, and they're outside, or they're they're coming into a shelter, if they know the shelters exist."
Giroux says IPH is also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year providing services for the unhoused and those at risk of becoming unhoused.
"We have three year round shelters here in Albany, and then we have our Safe Haven, which is our seasonal winter shelter. We also operate a shelter out in Montgomery County. We have permanent housing, so we help move people into housing, both housing that we own, and then or housing in the community, where we provide rental assistance and ongoing case management supports. And then we have our community center, our community drop in center, which is called Community Connections, and that is really a place where people can go during the day, if they're staying in a shelter where they need to be out, they can come in. They can take a shower. We have clothing, do their laundry, have food, get a meal, meet with a case manager, get their mail here," Giroux said.
The Safe Haven Emergency Shelter opens nightly at 4:30 p.m. with the current capacity to shelter 25 people, increasing to 45 people on November 4.
- Visit www.iphny.org/getinvolved to learn about ways to get involved including meal donations, organizing a donation drive, participating in IPH's Holiday Program, and more.
