NORWICH – Having seen an increasing number of families in need of rental assistance and temporary housing county-wide, the Chenango Housing Council is making strides toward a new shelter to be built in Norwich in order to meet the demands of a growing demographic.
The Chenango Housing Council (CHC), a coalition of local social service agencies assembled to address substandard housing and homelessness, is in the midst of a proposal to bring a transitional and permanent supportive housing facility to the Town of Norwich, just outside city limits.
Similar to a homeless shelter, the new facility would address emergency needs of homeless and at-risk families, but also provide intervention services and subsidized housing for those who qualify.
The CHC intends to submit a concept paper for the project to the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance no later than April. If the concept flies, applications for funding may be made available after legislators approve a state budget.
Preliminary figures estimate the project will cost nearly $3.3 million for the acquisition of land and related cost, renovations, professional services, and other developmental costs.
The CHC is looking to buy a facility located on Leilani’s Way off County Road 32, just east of city limits. That facility is currently home to the Chenango County alcohol and drug abuse services program which has a rental agreement that’s set to expire next month. Rather than renewing the lease, county officials plan to relocate the program to the Chenango County Office Building, freeing up the facility on Leilani’s Way. The CHC is in purchase negotiations with the building’s owner.
“We had been looking at a location within the city, but it didn’t work out,” said Judy Wingate-Wade, chair of the CHC. “We have been back at the drawing board ever since. We feel like this new location would be a good opportunity.”
The CHC worked with Catholic Charities of Chenango County to contract with an architecture firm to draft floor plans for the facility. Plans were also drafted for a new building that would be constructed adjacent to the existing one. After renovations, the existing building would consist of 14 temporary housing units (eight studio, four 2-bedroom, and two 3-bedroom), a kitchen/lounge area, and a number of supportive services.
Plans for the newly constructed facility are to address more long-term needs and would include eight low-income housing units. Final costs of that part of the project have yet to be determined.
“People living in that facility would have services available to them right next door which would help them dream bigger and move on,” said Gary Quarella, Director of Community Outreach for Catholic Charities.
The biggest obstacle now is getting funding for the entire project, said Quarella. The CHC is working with the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to piece together a concept that would be viable for grant funding. The CHC also receives an extra boost of support from the Coalition for the Homeless of the Southern Tier which encompasses Chenango, Broome, Cortland, Otsego and Delaware counties.
“We have been encouraged to submit a concept so that we could apply for grants,” Quarella said. “Because it’s a big application, it’s very intensive. There’s a lot of work to it. Where we are now is gathering information, and I think we’re at a point where we have enough information that we can put together a concept paper and send it in.”
The CHC estimates the number of homeless people in Chenango County was more than 110 in January, 2014, and that number is only expected to increase in 2015.
The Norwich Housing Authority has a waiting list of 150 families and individuals seeking rental assistance, according to Wingate-Wade. It took in 26 new applications in February alone.
“There seems to be a lot of people in need and they’re looking for help,” Wingate-Wade added.
Although the proposition of a homeless shelter has been discussed by the CHC in previous years, the coalition is now using numbers of the state funded Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP) that was administered through Catholic Charities in 2010. The CHC found that through the program, 564 families were served in 2010. Another 76 families that had lost their home were served through re-housing services. Those numbers climbed in 2011, with 663 families served through homelessness prevention and 76 more families served through re-housing programs.
The CHC is comprised of multiple agencies including the Department of Social Services, the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Area Agency on Aging, Chenango County Code Enforcement, Chenango Housing Improvement Program, the United Way, the City of Norwich, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Habitat for Humanity, the Norwich Housing Authority, and Opportunities for Chenango. CHC plans to use staff from various agencies to provide human services at the transitional and supportive housing facility.