The Tompkins County Legislature voted Tuesday to buy property for a new homeless shelter. Last month, the county’s only year-round shelter, operated by St. John’s Community Services, closed.
The acquisition plan of the new property was announced last week, alongside the expansion of the Temporary Housing Assistance program in the county, which will open up around 90 motel beds for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
The county will purchase an acre of land for the shelter on Ithaca’s West End for over $1 million.
Legislator Greg Mezey, who also chairs the Housing and Economic Development Committee, introduced the legislation. Mezey said the shelter is just one part of the county’s plan to reduce homelessness in the area.
“It is something that is desperately needed and we desperately need to improve our current condition,” Mezey said. “This is just the beginning of a solution to address that issue.”
Mezey said building the new shelter in the city of Ithaca will make it easier for people using the facility to access community services and resources.
“That's what a purpose-built facility would allow us to do, is concentrate those efforts so that we can make homelessness brief and one-time,” Mezey said.
The county legislature voted unanimously to purchase the property. The shelter will be able to house up to a hundred people, according to county estimates.
At a press conference last week, County Administrator Lisa Holmes said Tompkins County will apply for $6 million in funding from the state’s Homeless Housing and Assistance Program to develop the shelter.
At the earliest, construction could be finished by 2027, according to Holmes.
Legislators also briefly discussed another aspect of the county’s plan to provide housing - its recently opened Code Blue shelter. Code Blue is a statewide mandate that requires counties to provide shelter in freezing temperatures.
St. John’s Community Services used to provide Code Blue services, but did not submit an application to run the program this year. County officials said they did not receive any other viable Code Blue applications. The county opened a temporary shelter in the city of Ithaca on Nov. 25.
Holmes said between the shelter and other sites, the county has housed 38 people per night, up from 35 the previous year.
