The Prince George鈥檚 County Council signed off on a $5 million investment Tuesday in a new homeless shelter for the Warm Nights program, which has offered food and shelter to homeless residents around the Maryland county for years.
The money is coming from the American Rescue Plan, and that鈥檚 because the pandemic is changing the way nonprofits think about homeless shelters going forward, Warm Nights included.
鈥淲arm Nights was generally 50 people in a big room, in a church basement on a cot, 6 inches from the next person,鈥� said Tim Jansen, the executive director of Community Crisis Services, which has run the Warm Nights program in the county for more than a decade.
What the pandemic revealed was that “dormitory style situations, where you had 20 folks in a big dorm just breed things like COVID,” he said.
What was also discovered was that when homeless residents were put in motel rooms, it had a noticeable positive impact.
“There鈥檚 this amazing freedom, and this amazing strength that you see in a person when they have control over a bathroom door and control over a door between them and the rest of the world, even though it鈥檚 not technically their spot,鈥� Jansen said.
That鈥檚 the kind of facility Jansen said they鈥檒l be looking to acquire, now that the funding has been passed. Exactly where it will go isn鈥檛 clear yet.
“The appropriate area is somewhere that鈥檚 close to things people need,” he said. 鈥淕rocery store, transportation so they can get to work. Transportation so they can get to case appointments or mental health situations or doctors appointments.”
By being close to public transportation, Jansen said, you have that added benefit where transportation is “not a barrier to you moving on to stable housing.” He added that it鈥檚 his belief that some sites that fit what they鈥檙e looking for are available.
At a council meeting last week, Stanley Earley, the director of the county鈥檚 Office of Management and Budget, suggested the county might have to come back with more money next year to help complete the project.
“Becoming homeless isn鈥檛 so hard, finding affordable housing is,” Jansen said. Earlier this month, he said well over 150 rooms were being billed to the county to house homeless residents at three different facilities.
鈥淲e鈥檙e using lots of beds right now,鈥� Jansen said.
In a statement to 草莓传媒, Earley said the entire project is estimated to cost $8 million and will be covered with funding from the American Rescue Plan over the next two years.
