News conference today to announce help for homeless
Two non-profits will host a news conference Thursday at 2 p.m. to announce a new homelessness initiative.
The partnership between UCAN and St. Susan Center is in its early stages, but one of the pieces of leverage for whatever the agencies plan to announce today likely involves nearly $1.1 million in federal funding that had been secured for a previous UCAN project that didn’t pan out. There have been talks, according to several people close to the negotiations, of creating a new temporary housing shelter near downtown Jamestown, though it hasn’t been decided if the shelter would be long-term, short-term or a Code Blue emergency shelter. It also hasn’t been decided if there will be a certain group the initiative will aim to help first.
To address the growing homeless crisis, Mayor Kim Ecklund declared a state of emergency for the city on July 25. Since the initial emergency declaration there’s been two sweeps ordered of the known homeless encampment areas, and two formal meetings to address the ongoing crisis.
Ecklund and Crystal Surdyk, city development director, said in August they were expecting Chautauqua County officials to announce a new Code Blue emergency shelter that would be open before winter weather hits, though no formal announcement has yet been made.
“So there is an organization that I think has been designated,” Surdyk said at August’s City Council voting session. “I don’t know if it’s official yet so I don’t want to share the name of the organization yet. They have been working with the county (Department) of Mental Hygiene and Department of Social Services to put together a Code Blue shelter. It would be a more permanent Code Blue shelter. I don’t have specific details on size, location, number of beds, any of that. Those details are yet to be released to us. But we know that is being worked on and the intention is to have all those details confirmed and I believe to have them out to the public by mid September.”
Carmelo Hernandez, Chautauqua County Mental Hygiene and Social Services director, has told The Post-Journal several times over the past year that the county is repeatedly stated that the county is steadfast in its commitment to supporting the homeless population in Jamestown, and all of Chautauqua County.
“We are actively seeking to facilitate new developments and initiatives to address the ongoing needs of our homeless community, “ Hernandez said. “Our goal is to ensure that emergency housing is accessible throughout the year, thanks to the collaborative efforts of our department and our dedicated partners.”