The only year-round, low-barrier shelter in Saratoga Springs will remain open through the end of this year, though the future of the shelter is still in question.
RISE Housing and Support Services has been operating the city’s sole 24/7, low-barrier shelter since 2022.
Now located on Adelphi Street, the shelter was originally proposed to be temporary.
Earlier this month, RISE Executive Director Sybil Newell wrote to the city council calling for a commitment to fund a shelter through the end of 2026. Absent that, Newell said RISE would close its shelter just days before the Belmont Stakes is set to be run at Saratoga Race Course June 7th.
Newell spoke with reporters following the May 6th city council meeting, saying the letter was a cry for help.
“For the last two years we’ve really had to scrape and struggle to get funding committed every year. And that has left us in complete limbo until very close to the end of our contract every year. We have been told, ‘wait until the track season is over, wait until we’re not so busy, wait until the fall,’ and that really takes the pressure off the city and the county to do anything really about this,” said Newell.
The Adelphi Street location currently houses more than 30 individuals.
Hours before Tuesday’s city council meeting, RISE said in a statement that Democratic Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran’s upcoming Request for Proposals to fund a supported entry shelter through 2026 was enough of a commitment to keep the shelter open through the end of 2025.
At the meeting, Republican Mayor John Safford, who would not commit to funding RISE’s shelter earlier this month, praised the work by Moran and RISE to extend the shelter’s lifespan.
“RISE Housing and Support Service has agreed to continue to operate the shelter at Adelphi Street through December 31st, 2025 as contracted and funded. RISE will work to transition homeless individuals from the RISE shelter to alternative programs during this time period. The city thanks RISE for operating the Adelphi Street shelter for the past 24 months and collecting data to demonstrate the need for this service to continue,” said Safford.
In a statement, RISE said it is grateful “to the City of Saratoga Springs for hearing our concerns and taking meaningful action at a critical moment,” adding it’s encouraged by ongoing, productive conversations with the city and other local service providers “who have expressed intent to find a feasible long-term, year-round solution.”
Moran provided some data backing his continued support of RISE’s shelter.
“From June 2023 through December 2024, 212 unique individuals have entered the shelter. From June 2023 through May 2025, 183 unique individuals were discharged from the shelter. So that leaves roughly 29 still under their care. Of those, 68% resulted in positive outcomes, their either currently in a stable housing situation, they are in a treatment program or they’ve sought and are getting care at another shelter. Two out of every three people we touch with this approach have positive outcomes,” said Moran.
Moran also supported RISE’s approach to raising the alarm over funding concerns.
“When the selected vendor for these services [RISE] runs into an issue, they’re required to notify us by contract. While certainly people can have discussions about the method, was it proper, could there have been a better way? Sure. But they did have a responsibility to let us know. To throw their hand up in the air and say ‘we have a concern that we can’t continue on in this fashion,” said Moran.
Possible vendors must respond to the RFP by June 10th. There is no proposed shelter location included in the RFP.
