50.0°,
Overcast Sheltering program facing a funding crisis
In the heart of Glen Cove, amidst the picturesque streets and bustling community life lies a reality often unseen: the profound struggles of those grappling with homelessness. At the forefront of this struggle is the North Shore Sheltering Program, housed within the welcoming embrace of the city’s First Presbyterian Church. For over 20 years, this program has served as a lifeline for dozens of men, providing them with a nighttime refuge from the harsh realities of life on frigid streets from November to March.
But the vital lifeline has faced setbacks in recent years, partly because of dwindling funds, and church elders contemplating the sale of its building. The shelter is set to resume its annual fundraiser to help keep its doors open. The last fundraising event for the shelter was in 2019, and social distancing mandates didn’t allow for the program to hold its annual fundraising event.
“We are barely able to finish this season because we ran out of funds,” Cantor Gustavo Gitlin of Congregation Tifereth Israel, president of NSSP’s board of trustees, said. “We’re now doing this fundraiser to be able to open next year.”
It costs approximately $10,000 per month for the shelter to rent space from the church and provide basic needs such as food, sleeping bags and hygienic products like body wash and toothbrushes for the 20 men who live at the shelter. The program has no funding from any government agencies. Instead, it is staffed mostly by volunteers and funded by the generosity of the North Shore community.
The program began in response to the death of two men who in separate incidents, were left out in the elements during the winter of 1996 ultimately dying of exposure.
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, there are two major contributors to the current housing and homelessness crises: a lack of low-cost housing nationwide, and the limited scale of housing-assistance programs. Nationally, the cost of rental housing greatly exceeds average wages earned by low-income households. A full-time worker needs to earn on average of just under $26 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, and over $21 hourly to afford a one-bedroom, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
“It’s important that people go there and see with their own eyes where the men live,” Gitlin said about this year’s fundraiser. “It’s important for our donors to see, interact and to have a conversation with our men, and to share a meal and see where they sleep. It’s an eye opener.”
Gitlin previously stated that some of the men they help have mental illnesses and find it difficult to live with family. Others use the shelter to save money during the winter so they can send it home to their families overseas. The program does try to help residents find stable housing throughout the year but have faced hurdles with undocumented residents who do not qualify for government assistance.
Many shelter residents have expressed gratitude for the new experiences they had with Baskind last year. Residents have made trips to the Bronx Zoo and areas of the state that are inaccessible to them. These additional experience for the men were inspired by Baskind asking residents what they strive to do with their time at the shelter, and other ways they’d like to spend their time, providing a mental break from everyday homeless life. Another of those experiences included a few mornings cleaning John Maccarone Memorial Stadium.
This year’s fundraising event will take place on March 19, at 5 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church, 7 North Lane, Glen Cove. Tickets are $50 per person, and guests can enjoy refreshments prepared by the program board members, a raffle, and an opportunity to tour the shelter. Donations of new socks and underwear are welcome. For more information about the fundraiser and the shelter program, visit northshoreshelteringprogram.org.
