Tompkins County officials recently announced plans to build a permanent, long-term homeless shelter in Ithaca’s West End neighborhood.
This comes after the county’s only year-round homeless shelter closed earlier this month. St. John’s Community Services provided shelter space and access to motel rooms for over 70 people, according to the organization’s CEO.
County and city officials gathered at a property on Cherry Street Tuesday to announce the move. The acre of land is near pre-existing homeless encampments and service providers. The new shelter will have the capacity to house around 100 people.
Tompkins County Legislative Chair Dan Klein said the county urgently needs more shelter space.
“Frankly, we needed something like this many years ago,” he said. “Our system simply lacks the capacity to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness in our community.”
The land will cost the county over $1 million. The purchase still needs the final approval of the county Legislature, which will vote on the acquisition at their meeting on Dec. 3.
County Administrator Lisa Holmes said they plan to apply for $6 million in additional funding from the state’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program to develop the shelter.
“The county is committing to purchasing the land and likely preparing the site for the construction, but the actual construction would come through [Homeless Housing and Assistance Program],” Holmes said.
Holmes added the county is seeking a nonprofit organization to operate the shelter.
During Tuesday’s press conference at the property, Holmes described the shelter as part of a multi-pronged approach to addressing homelessness in the area.
“Emergency sheltering is not the only needed solution to homelessness, but it is a core function of our system that needs to be shored up and part of the county's responsibilities to serve people experiencing homelessness,” she said.
Holmes also announced the expansion of Temporary Housing Assistance (THA), a state program enacted by the county’s Department of Social Services. Because of partnerships with motels, Holmes said the county will now have 90 beds available through THA, up from the 26 formerly provided by St. John’s Community Services.
The county also opened its Code Blue shelter Monday night. Code Blue is a state-mandated program that requires counties to provide shelter in freezing temperatures.
In Tompkins County, those services were previously administered by St. John’s. The organization did not submit an application to run the program for the 2024-25 Code Blue season. County officials said no other viable applications for the program were submitted.
Temperatures did not drop below freezing Monday night and officials said no one utilized the new Code Blue Shelter, although it is ready for guests.