ServiceNet's warming shelter opened on Dec. 1 next to its 40-bed shelter, The Pearl, at First United Methodist Church.

ServiceNet manages the warming shelter next to the church. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — ServiceNet's warming center has provided more than heat to unhoused individuals over the last four months and will run to the end of April.

It opened on Dec. 1 in the First United Methodist Church's dining area, next to ServiceNet's 40-bed shelter The Pearl. The agency has seen 126 individuals utilize the warming center and provided some case management to regulars.

While this winter was a success, they are already considering next winter.

"I've been on this committee many years now. There's probably only a few months out of the year that I don't talk about winter, so I'm always trying to plan for next winter," Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, told the Homelessness Advisory Committee on Wednesday.

"We are in this winter and I'm already thinking what's going to happen next winter because I want to be really clear, winter shelter is never a given. We don't have this built into the state budget. It's not built into our budget, so there is always trying to figure out where we get money, and then where do we go with winter shelter."

She pointed out that warming centers are "very different" from shelters, which have a bed. The warming center is set up like a dining room, open from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and folks are welcome to stay for breakfast.

"We are asking people to come in, get warm, be out of the elements," Forbush explained.

The warming center will close on April 30.

Nearly 130 unduplicated adult men and women have come through, and Forbush reported, "Our numbers actually increase as it gets warmer, but we have probably an average anywhere from 25 to 30 people on any given night."

A majority of folks stay throughout the night, she said, but people can come and go as they choose.

"There are people that we have been able to start working with, doing some case management with, because they just are coming in regularly," she explained.

"We always say that you don't need to be in the shelter for us to provide that case management and that's really about whatever support that person is asking for. Sometimes it's housing, sometimes it's not. We were just trying to get somebody into a detox this morning before I got on this call."

Reportedly, some people use the center temporarily, but the majority of those 126 people are in need of shelter. People come for various reasons, such as their rental being purchased and either getting evicted or priced out, having non-inhabitable living conditions, or the end of a relationship.

"Some of them are people that we've known for a fair time and work with in several different capacities, but there's also probably half of that number are people that we've never met before, so that is also concerning," Forbush said, adding that it is people of all ages.

ServiceNet is also seeing more people seeking shelter who are already on a housing list.  On Zillow, the price for a one-bedroom apartment in Pittsfield ranges from $1,250 per month to $1,600.

The numbers will continue with rising rents, Forbush said.

"We used to be able to manage it, and it is not that way anymore, and we have a lot of frustrated folks too at the shelter. I mean, people would like to have their own space."

 Eileen Peltier, CEO of Hearthway, said it is a "little bit of a perfect storm" between economic factors and the number of people experiencing homelessness.  Hearthway has stopped issuing housing vouchers, and it could be years before that resumes.

"The rising rents have put the Commonwealth in a very challenging position trying to manage the vouchers they have, and honestly, the same thing is happening at the federal level," she said.

"I mean, there may be any number of changes that come to it, but at the federal level, even without the current administration, they're confronting that same challenge, so it's a little scary to think about that not being an option."

She pointed out that the upcoming Terrace 592 apartments have some vouchers as well as other permanent supportive housing projects in the city.  The state will reportedly provide around eight vouchers to an applicable housing project, but the issuance of typical Section 8 vouchers for private apartments has been "strained for a long time."

"I think in the big picture, that's one of the things I'm losing sleep over," Peltier said, explaining that there is only so much money that can be put in the governor's budget and the administration is struggling to keep up with the need.

Late last year, Hearthway hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for 37 new units of supportive housing, 28 on vacant land on West Housatonic Street and nine at Zion Lutheran Church on First Street.  The agency is also managing Terrace 592.

Peltier reported that the First Street units are expected to be finished in August, West Housatonic Street in December, and Terrace 592 plans to open in mid-May.

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