After shelter space peaked in 2010, the number of emergency beds and transitional housing units for Connecticut’s homeless has decreased by more than 34%, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual Housing Inventory Count Report.
The Stewart B. McKinney Men’s Emergency Shelter is moving into the former Days Inn hotel at 207 Brainard Road in Hartford.
Gov. Ned Lamont said the state-funded project is meant to improve the quality of care the shelter provides. The shelter’s current location at 34 Huyshope Ave. contains a large congregate setting.
The state is providing more than $3.4 million in funding for the Community Renewal Team, which owns and operates the shelter, to purchase the former hotel and create the new shelter. Construction is set to begin in October.
If there was one silver lining to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was discovering that providing services to the homeless population in a hotel was possible, according to Community Renewal Team President and CEO Lena Rodriguez.
Plan to convert Hartford hotel into homeless shelter opens up old city firehouse to redevelopment courant.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from courant.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.