Lifting Up Westchester in White Plains, NY, has two adult shelters in Westchester County, New York, one for men and one for women: Open Arms Men’s Shelter, 86 E. Post Road, White Plains, NY 10601, (914) 948-5044; and Samaritan House Women’s Shelter, 33 Church Street, 3rd Floor, White Plains, NY 10601, (914) 948-3075. They also have a community kitchen: Community Central & Grace’s Community Kitchen, 33 Church Street, White Plains, NY. In Westchester County, the Westchester County Department of Social Services determines if a person’s last housing was in Westchester County, in order to determine if they are eligible for the Westchester County shelter system. The County then assigns a person to a shelter. All shelter entrants participate in a Comprehensive Homeless Assessment Tool (CHAT) assessment. In a residential shelter, the person has an assigned bed as well as meals and support services; the County receives most of the person’s income as a shelter contribution. Each shelter also has drop-in beds, which are available each day from 4 p.m. on. People moving out of the shelter either go to a market-rate apartment in the community, or they qualify for supported housing. Qualifying for supported housing requires both chronic homelessness and a diagnosis of either a mental health disorder, including substance abuse, or a physical disability. Lifting Up Westchester provides case management and a financial subsidy in supported housing, such that a person pays 30% of their income towards rent, and Lifting Up Westchester pays the rest. Lifting Up Westchester has 300 units of supported housing in various sites. The case manager goes to the housing site. Through a pilot program with funding for a transitional case management program that provided additional support, Lifting Up Westchester was able to reduce the number of people who return to the shelter from supported housing from 35% to 2%. A person who sees someone who appears to be homeless and appears to have a mental health disorder can google the name and location of the local shelter in the community, and then share that information with some encouragement to go. Additionally, one can call the shelter and ask to speak with a homeless outreach person. If a person sees someone in White Plains, NY, who appears to be experiencing homelessness, one can call Lifting Up Westchester at their main number, (914) 949-3098, to reach out for help for this person. For more information about Lifting Up Westchester, please see their website at liftingupwestchester.org.
Thank you to Anahaita N. Kotval, Chief Executive Officer, Lifting Up Westchester, 35 Orchard Street, White Plains, NY 10603, for this interview.