“You never really know what you’re taking away from your community by not having these places and space for people to rely on in their time of need.””

Douglas Schindler

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — A recent proposal to erect a gateway homeless shelter that faltered on April 24 received strong support from community stakeholders, including the long-time Monticello library director, a co-founder of the Black Library and the Village of Liberty police chief, before a May 15 legislative revote to move the project forward failed again.

Despite highlighting the need for what would be Sullivan’s first gateway shelter, the May 15 legislative re-vote to approve a long-term lease for a proposed property for the gateway shelter failed to pass in an 8-1 vote, with District 5 legislator Cat Scott the sole yes vote.

Approval was needed to secure grant funding for the proposed shelter to be built in the Town of Thompson on county property located near the jail on Pittaluga Road. It would be run by HONOR EHG, a private nonprofit organization that assists Hudson Valley residents in need with shelter and support.

Hasidic residents who live on Pettaluga Road near the proposed gateway shelter location expressed strong pushback for the project at the first public hearing on April 24.

Before the legislature’s re-vote on the shelter failed to pass, Steven D’Agata, Village of Liberty police chief, voiced his support for the grant-funded 20-bed shelter. 

In a makeshift shelter model utilizing area motels, Sullivan County currently houses around 300 people, up from around 50 during COVID-19 when evictions were paused, according to Sullivan County Health and Human Services Commissioner John Liddle.

One of the main motels used by the county is the Knights Inn in Liberty, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Liberty Police Department and is frequently the site of arrests and reported crime.

D’Agata said, “First, being unhoused does not make someone a criminal. I’ve recently heard troubling and unfounded public comments made to this legislature suggesting that individuals in need of emergency shelter are inherently more prone to criminal behavior. This implication is harmful, irresponsible and inaccurate.”

“The current practice of simply placing individuals in a motel without the necessary infrastructure and oversight has resulted in an escalating public safety crisis. The Knights Inn has been the site of a disproportionate amount of crime and disorder,” D’Agata said.

Mary Paige Lang-Clouse, who has worked at the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library in Monticello since 2008, said the legislature should pursue the gateway shelter as soon as possible. She said in the past 17 years, the uptick in unhoused individuals and families coming to the library has “increased significantly” and “has been at a crisis point for a long time,” and that the wraparound services that would be provided at the gateway shelter would be an enormous help.

Douglas Schindler, the co-founder of the Black Library in Monticello, a library and community art space focused on celebrating Black history and culture, said 25 percent of people who become homeless develop mental health issues they didn’t have before. 

Schindler told the legislature that he and his mother became homeless when he was younger. “It’s very important for us to have resources like this, because I could have been that person that ended up being schizophrenic or having severe anxiety issues, and then there would be no Black Library for people to have for the past couple years.”

“You never really know what you’re taking away from your community by not having these places and spaces for people to have to rely on in their time of need,” Schindler said.

District 3 legislator Brian McPhillips and district 7 legislator Joe Perrello had concerns that the projected $8 million cost to build the 20-bed facility for single men and women, which would be covered by the grant, was not cost-effective. 

“The biggest issue is we’re spending $8 million on 10 rooms, double occupancy. You know what you could build for $8 million? I saw the renderings of the plans. They’re building a little Taj Mahal. We are looking for housing. We should do a commercial style,” Perrello said.

District 8 legislator Amanda Ward had concerns about the shelter location, which she says is isolated on a dead-end road and removed from county services. 

McPhillips suggested alternate locations that might solve some of the legislators’ concerns. 

The legislature has known about the location and voted last year to pursue the site when it moved forward on the state environmental quality review process, which was a necessary approval for the project’s next steps at the Pettaluga Road location.

District 5 legislator Cat Scott said looking at different locations would lose the county the grant and this opportunity.

“Something is better than nothing,” she said.

The legislators agreed to discuss alternative locations for a gateway shelter.