New emergency family shelter opens in Rochester

Monroe County has opened its first-ever county-developed emergency shelter in Rochester’s Corn Hill neighborhood, County Executive Adam Bello announced Wednesday.

The Moving Forward Family Shelter on Troup Street in the city’s oldest residential neighborhood will house up to 58 families and will double the family shelter space available in Monroe County. Families must be referred through the Department of Homeless Services to be placed at the shelter.

The move will reduce the number of unhoused families the county has placed in hotels, Bello said in the release, and provide families with case management services, activities, meals, and transportation to school and doctor’s appointments.

“My administration has doubled the available temporary shelter space for families and contracted with Volunteers of America to provide comprehensive wraparound services to help these families regain stability,” Bello said.

The shelter will fill a need for quality housing that directly supports struggling families, said Assemblyman Demond Meeks, who represents New York’s 137th District.

“Far too often constituents experiencing chronic homelessness contact our office seeking assistance with finding a shelter,” Meeks said in the release. “I am grateful to Monroe County for taking the necessary steps to bring holistic services to our children and families.”

Located right by I-490, the three-story property now housing the shelter was once a hotel. Years ago, the city gave Catholic Charities permission to create 21 habitable rooms and several offices.

Last year, the county put out a call for proposals on a “centralized emergency housing facility.” Based on that call out, the county wanted to open a shelter for unhoused Rochesterians suffering from severe mental illnesses and addictions for whom a traditional shelter setting would be a difficult fit.

Progress on the shelter stalled in 2023 when some Corn Hill residents learned of the repurposing proposal for the site. Members of the Corn Hill Neighbors’ Association criticized the scarcity of information the county had given residents and homeowners on the project.

Last summer, the city’s Planning Commission received several complaints from residents asking for details on the facility’s scale, security, and maintenance plans. Since then, the shelter’s focus has been shifted to providing transitional housing for families.

The shelter opens at a critical time, as the number of Rochester families experiencing homelessness continues to rise, said Volunteers of America Upstate New York President and CEO Junior Dillion in the release. A 2023 report from Person Centered Housing Options found that homelessness in Rochester rose 12% from 2022, bringing the average homelessness rate to 20 of 1,000 people.

“Volunteers of America is dedicated to responding to this urgent need with compassion," Dillion said, "helping families rebuild their lives and create a brighter future for themselves and their children."

— Christina Chkarboul is a summer intern at the Democrat and Chronicle and a student journalist at USC, where she focuses on Earth science, global studies and journalism. Contact her at cchkarboul@gannett.com with story tips related to code enforcemen t.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: New emergency family shelter opens in Rochester