AUBURN - The Cayuga County Health and Human Services Committee voted to give $5,000 to Chapel House Homeless Shelter.
The money will be used to help the shelter purchase a new building in order to expand its services.
“I'm very grateful that we get help from the county,” said the Rev. Dennis Shaw, parochial administrator for Holy Family Church. “Every little bit helps.”
The total cost for the building is $84,000, Shaw said, and the shelter is asking for funding from other sources, including Holy Family Church.
He hopes to secure $30,000 from the church. Shaw would like to purchase the building and move the shelter as soon as possible in order to make it available to women and children.
Chapel House currently operates as a shelter for single males.
The shelter, which is located in the old Holy Family School gymnasium, currently fills 12 to 14 beds a night, and sometimes, the beds are filled to the full capacity of 19.
In the past year, Chapel House helped 30 people move into their own homes and two people go to college, Shaw said.
Having the support of the county will help other people who are asked to donate see that the shelter is partnering with the right people, he said.
“It's a primary need we have to have to survive. We can't have people out on the street,” said committee chairperson Ann Petrus, R-Brutus.
During the meeting, Steven Cuddeback said that supporting the shelter is more important than some of the other
organizations the county supports. Cuddeback, R-Niles, was willing to allocate as much as $25,000 toward the purchase of the building.
If approved by the Legislature, the $5,000 would be a one-time expense that would come out of the county's contingency funds, or dollars not dedicated to a specific project. This would not impact the 2009 budget.
Daniel Sincebaugh, D-Auburn, who is also on Chapel House's board of directors, is extremely grateful for the county's support.
“I would just like to praise Health and Human Services for giving us money that's going to a good cause at a difficult time,” he said.
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
“I'm very grateful that we get help from the county,” said the Rev. Dennis Shaw, parochial administrator for Holy Family Church. “Every little bit helps.”
The total cost for the building is $84,000, Shaw said, and the shelter is asking for funding from other sources, including Holy Family Church.
He hopes to secure $30,000 from the church. Shaw would like to purchase the building and move the shelter as soon as possible in order to make it available to women and children.
Chapel House currently operates as a shelter for single males.
The shelter, which is located in the old Holy Family School gymnasium, currently fills 12 to 14 beds a night, and sometimes, the beds are filled to the full capacity of 19.
In the past year, Chapel House helped 30 people move into their own homes and two people go to college, Shaw said.
Having the support of the county will help other people who are asked to donate see that the shelter is partnering with the right people, he said.
“It's a primary need we have to have to survive. We can't have people out on the street,” said committee chairperson Ann Petrus, R-Brutus.
During the meeting, Steven Cuddeback said that supporting the shelter is more important than some of the other
organizations the county supports. Cuddeback, R-Niles, was willing to allocate as much as $25,000 toward the purchase of the building.
If approved by the Legislature, the $5,000 would be a one-time expense that would come out of the county's contingency funds, or dollars not dedicated to a specific project. This would not impact the 2009 budget.
Daniel Sincebaugh, D-Auburn, who is also on Chapel House's board of directors, is extremely grateful for the county's support.
“I would just like to praise Health and Human Services for giving us money that's going to a good cause at a difficult time,” he said.
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
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