Bethesda House expands to Cara House, filling increased need
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A new homeless shelter and supportive housing center is now open. The grand opening follows a push to build more affordable housing in the city and provide resources to help people find housing.
Cara House holds 26 supportive apartments, including 10 units for the chronically homeless and 16 emergency shelter beds.
“We’ve seen an increase in the unhoused population, especially single adults," Kimarie Sheppard, Executive Director of Bethesda House, said. "We have a HUD-funded coordinated entry program and right now sitting on that waitlist is over 200 single adults and about 50 families that are homeless.”
The shelter increases Bethesda House's current capacity, expanding the organization's resources to assist people without homes and formerly incarcerated individuals.
“We have a home connections, which is case management, that works with them as immediate as possible to try to get them into housing," Sheppard said. "So, here at Bethesda House it’s not so much the emergency shelter piece, but the supportive housing piece that is really going to make an impact on the reentry people.”
Sheppard said the ultimate goal of supportive housing is to help people find permanent and affordable housing, something the city has been working to address.
Yesterday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the construction of a 60-unit affordable housing development in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood. Some apartments will include access to supportive services and rental subsidies.
“There’s a lot of different programs that help subsidize and that’s really important," Sheppard said. "That is New York State coming in and helping with that supportive housing.”
“These don’t happen overnight," Mayor Gary McCarthy said. "But, we have over 1,100 units either under construction or completed within the city over the last roughly 4 years so this today just continues to build on that record of success.”
Sheppard said they are already vetting through people seeking help and expect all beds to be filled by January 1, 2024.