New Haven organization opens new drop-in and resource center for unhoused people

A New Haven organization that works with unhoused people of the Greater New Haven area celebrated its new drop-in and resource center.

Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) has been providing meals and outreach services to unhoused people for three decades.

The organization has provided meals out of a site on Temple Street and outreach services on State Street, but now they will be able to provide those services, and more, all out of one center, according to Steve Werlin, the executive director for DESK.

“People can come in, they can get in off the street, they can get a cup of coffee, have something to eat but also access other services, so they have the ability to meet with a case manager or outreach worker and they have medical services right on site,” Werlin said.

The new center on State Street includes a drop-in welcome center on the first floor, a fully-renovated industrial kitchen on the second floor, medical services by Cornell Scott Hill Health Center along with shower and laundry services on its third floor and a resource center equipped with case management offices for outreach workers in the building’s basement.

“If someone is newly unhoused, our hope is that they make it to downtown New Haven, the New Haven Green, they make it over to our site, we get them connected to shelter, we get them connected to housing, and this front door connects them to the whole network of social services to get them some stability and greater wellbeing in their lives,” Werlin said.

Dozens of community members attended Monday’s ribbon cutting event at the new site, including New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.

"If someone needs support around substance use disorder, someone needs support because they're struggling with mental health challenges, someone needs support because they are looking for long-term housing, all of that will be offered in this facility,” Elicker said.

Also present at the event was George Prendergast, a formerly unhoused person.

Prendergast said he was homeless when he arrived in New Haven from Maryland, but he was quickly directed to DESK where he was able to receive a variety of services.

“It was very relieving, it was so great to have so many proactive people here that really cared about me,” Prendergast said.

He said the outreach workers helped him transition to a place of his own within six months, and he believes the center will provide people the individual help they need.

“I feel it's going to be all-inclusive, it's going to be trauma-informed spacing, trauma-informed approaches for people who have different traumatic pasts,” Prendergast said.

Robert Paul Lowe, who has been receiving services through DESK for about a year, commended the organization for taking the extra step to help homeless people.

"I feel comfortable, I feel safe and I feel special. I feel like people make me feel special because they care about me,” Lowe said.

DESK provides over 200 meals every night and they are planning to serve 100,000 meals over the next year.