“It’s heartbreaking, it's frustrating, it is not unique to Waterbury, it’s a problem that is going all over,” Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said.
There are plans underway to transform the former Sacred Heart Parish property into a multi-purpose campus that will offer resources to people re-entering the community after being incarcerated and those experiencing homelessness.
“We can not just live in a place where 43 people camp outside and we are not doing something to try to solve that problem,” Pernerewski said.
Last Monday, the Board of Aldermen approved the purchase of the former Sacred Heart Church and its properties. The rectory and convent would be leased to CT Renaissance for halfway houses, the vacant church building would be revamped as a homeless facility and the vacant school building would be utilized as a re-entry center.
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“Where they would be able to go to get job training, and work skills, and we hope to have support services in there,” Pernerewski said.
This winter, St. Vincent DePaul Mission Shelter was over capacity.
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“What we are seeing right now, especially during the winter, is families actually sleeping in cars,” St. Vincent DePaul Mission Shelter Director of Operations Edwin Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said all of their beds were filled. They received extra funding from the state Department of Housing to place families in a nearby hotel.
“It’s heartbreaking, think about it, this is somebody's daughter, somebody's father, uncle, aunt, they are part of our society, part of fabric,” Rodriguez said.
The city is currently working to close the purchase with the Archdiocese of Hartford and plans to buy the property for $950,000 using American Rescue Plan funds.
The goal is to have the homeless facility up and running by next winter.
