AMHERST — In recent days, a flurry of people have reached out to the nonprofit organization that runs Amherst’s seasonal emergency overnight shelter, perhaps indicating that when it opened this week, demand for the service will continue to be high.
“We’ve gotten a lot of phone calls at the resource center asking when beds are going to be available,” says Rachel Weiss, site manager for the Craig’s Place shelter.
Unhoused people in the Northampton and Amherst area will soon have access to an increasing number of beds to get out of the elements and stay warm during the winter.
At Craig’s Place, 23 beds are expected to be set up each night in the parish hall at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 867 North Pleasant St., starting Wednesday. Another 25 beds will be at First Churches of Northampton at 129 Main St. later in November, when shelter operator ServiceNet, for the second year in a row, relocates to that space from the Interfaith Shelter at 43 Center St., which currently is open with 10 beds.
For Craig’s Doors: A Home Association, the agency that oversees the Amherst shelter, Immanuel Lutheran becomes the third church from which it will operate. The shelter opens two days later than normal seasons because the church is a voting site for the town’s biennial election.
“We’re very pleased that Immanuel Lutheran is welcoming us. We’re very grateful,” said Executive Director Kevin Noonan, observing that the parish hall has sprinklers and new carbon monoxide detectors, an attached kitchen with modern appliances, and provides enough room so women will have their own discrete area.
But unlike last winter, when the shelter operated from the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse, Craig’s Place will not be open around the clock but instead will open daily around 6 p.m., and serve guests until 7 a.m.
Weiss said people who come one night can be assured of having a bed the next night if there by 9 p.m. Meals will be served from the kitchen and guests will bring the food on trays back to their cots.
Weiss said the shelter has enough staff to cover all the shifts and will have at least three employees at all times, but are still hiring. Volunteers can sign up at www.craigsdoors.org/volunteer, while inquires about monetary contributions and donations of toiletries and winter coats and gear can be made by sending email to managers@craigsdoors.org
Each day the cots will be broken down and placed in a large roll-off storage container behind the church. Because there are no shower facilities on site, an arrangement is being made with the Amherst Survival Center, which will open earlier on weekdays, except on Wednesday when it is closed, so people can use the showers there and up to nine people can stay warm there at a time.
Weiss said the Amherst shelter will be doing regular COVID-19 testing of all guests and unvaccinated staff every two weeks.
In Northampton, Grove Street Inn is housing 15 people, down from the normal 21, and the Interfaith Shelter is at half capacity with 10 guests, said Amy Timmins, vice president of community relations for ServiceNet. But once winter comes, ServiceNet will be able to take care of 40 individuals, on par with the 41 accommodated in the past between the two sites.
Timmins said the shelter will follow Department of Public Health guidelines, including maintaining social distancing and requiring masks to be worn except when eating and sleeping, and will have meals provided through Manna Soup Kitchen and some delivered by restaurants.
Guests can go to the ServiceNet Resource Center where showers are available and Healthcare for Homeless is based.
Though volunteers will not be staying overnight, Timmins said people can sign up through Hampshire County Friends of the Homeless.
Staff will be tested weekly for COVID-19 and rapid tests can be used for guests.
The main difference between the shelters remains the behavior-based entrance policy in Amherst, meaning that guests who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol are welcome to stay, so long as they don’t cause trouble or engage in illegal activity.
“In part, we have this policy because active users are at markedly increased risk of dying if they are unsheltered during winter weather,” said Denise Barberet, director of administration and finance for Craig’s Doors.
Craig’s Doors is also continuing to oversee the use of rooms at the University Lodge, with funding for that through at least June 30. There, 24 people, considered vulnerable and unable to stay in a congregate setting, are living in transitional housing.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
