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Saratoga County moves closer toward permanent seasonal shelter amid rising homelessness

Saratoga County is one step closer to establishing a new seasonal homeless shelter.

Saratoga County has closed on a $3 million purchase of a 1.4-acre lot on Ballston Avenue in Saratoga Springs that will serve as a permanent location for the county’s Code Blue shelter, which takes in unhoused residents when temperatures drop below freezing.

Code Blue is currently run by Shelters of Saratoga. Executive Director Duane Vaughn says he’s excited by the purchase, but:

“We have not had any conversations since we heard the closing. Right now and the county, and the city, is 100% behind us where we can focus on these extreme temperatures right now and making sure that everyone is warm, safe, and secure this week. So, that’s our focus and is always going to be our focus. We’ll worry about moving forward on the project in the near future. Right now we’re trying to keep everybody healthy there’s a flu going around and there’s a stomach bug going around and we want to make sure everybody is safe,” said Vaughn.

Code Blue is currently run out of the former Grand Union Motel at 120 South Broadway. Vaughn says being able to construct a shelter on a parcel of land that is near other social services and across the street from a CDTA bus stop will help the most vulnerable residents immensely.

“We’re going to be able to fit the building to the program instead of trying to fit the program to the building if that makes any sense. We’ve had to adjust, I think it’s been more than five times, it’s been either six or seven different locations in the past 10 years, and it’s difficult on everybody. Your prep has to start during the previous Code Blue season. It takes a lot of work to set up infrastructure. It takes a lot of work to make sure that we’re adjusting to different styles of buildings, that we’re ensuring everybody’s safety, and hopefully we can eliminate that process,” said Vaughn.

Republican Mayor John Safford ran on a campaign to help support the city’s unhoused residents.

“We want to make sure that that building, and this is the assurance that we have, is going to blend in and look very nice in that spot. The other thing is it’s important to the city to know that the county is engaging to help with this ongoing problem that we have and it’s very exciting and positive in my perspective if those things are met,” said Safford.

A recent study by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found homelessness has grown dramatically in New York—more than doubling between January 2022 and January 2024. Much of the increase is attributed to an influx of asylum seekers in New York City, but Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls as well as Washington, Warren, and Hamilton Counties all saw a 138% spike, according to DiNapoli.

Vaughn says he suspects the real rates are even higher.

“I don’t think it’s surprising to see so many people post-COVID finding themselves in difficult situations living paycheck to paycheck. I’m not surprised by this number but we’re going to continue to work to get that number to where it’s a little more positive,” said Vaughn.

Democratic state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner represents the 113th district, which encompasses portions of Saratoga, Washington, and Warren counties.

Woerner says she is committed to a multi-faceted approach to lowering homelessness figures across the state.

“We need to be looking at how do we build housing for working class people and certainly there are initiatives in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls to do just that, we need to just keep making those investments,” said Woerner. “We also need to think about do we have the right community resources around mental health? Do we have enough of it? Are the services getting to the right people?”

A $42.8 million project to build almost 100 units of workforce housing is now under way Saratoga Springs.