New homeless shelter to open in downtown Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A new homeless shelter will be dedicated downtown next week, providing a shelter alternative to the tent encampments. But will it be enough?
Three years in the making, the finishing touches are being put on the $20 million Second Avenue Commons, which will be a no-questions-asked, so-called low barrier shelter, accommodating all homeless people, even those with drug problems and pets.
The product of a public-private partnership spearheaded by PNC Bank, the health care systems and the city and county, the five-story, 42,000-square-foot building will provide 95 beds and 45 units of single-occupancy housing for homeless people. But while that would have addressed most of the homeless population when it was planned, the need is far greater today.
"Originally when it was designed, the idea was that the Second Avenue Commons would be able to meet all of the demand of the homeless but even since that time, there's been an increase of the homeless and unstablely housed in our county," said Light of Life Rescue Mission Director Jerrel Gilliam.
The city is experiencing an explosion in homelessness brought on by factors like the pandemic, the end of the eviction moratorium and the opioid crisis. With an estimated 900 homeless currently in Allegheny County, tent encampments line the waterfronts and existing shelters are over-capacity. Gilliam says the new Light of Life shelter on the North Side with 50 beds is now also putting 25 cots each night in its cafeteria.
"We do not see that as a long-term way to care for those who are experiencing homelessness," Gilliam said.
Even so, many of the homeless prefer their tents to shelters.
"Sometimes it feels like a jail or an institution, you know what I mean?" one person said.
Meanwhile, city council members have asked Mayor Ed Gainey and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to find an empty hotel or some other large building to temporarily house more people experiencing homelessness while they pursue the long-range solution of getting people into permanent housing.
"We see our shelter as not a permanent place but a temporary place that is safe, that engages people with services so that they can move on," Gilliam said.
The dedication ceremony will be held Thursday, and the shelter is expected to be open in a few weeks.
The city and county continue to meet about developing both a short and long ranged strategy to address the homeless problem and this shelter will certainly play an intergral part.