Eviction from Rochester's Project Haven? Cash crisis letter shocks shelter residents.
When AJ Brown could no longer endure domestic violence, she fled.
She had no friends or family to take her in. DHS shelters were her only options.
Once she began paid training to be a home health aide, the Department of Human Services told her she made too much money for housing assistance.
This determination came despite the fact that the income for her was only coming for the training hours and she had not secured a case that would provide pay. Once the training pay was over, the income was over — until she was given a case to manage.
The 27-year-old sought sanctuary at a residence managed by Project Haven of Rochester. "You're safe; get settled and focus on working," Brown said she was told. "I was trying to save as much as I possibly (could) and rebuild my life and stay off the streets and out of an abusive relationship."
The plan was to have enough cash saved to find and sustain safe and affordable housing by Thanksgiving.
By Nov. 3, she was back on the streets. Project Haven had delivered a letter stating they could no longer house her.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think they would kick me out," Brown said.
Project Haven was supposed to be an important addition to Rochester's network of homeless shelters when it opened in January.
It represented 80 new beds at a time of great demand. What's more, many of them were set aside for the very most vulnerable, including LGBTQ+ people and survivors of sex trafficking or domestic violence.
What are emergency shelter options in Rochester?
Project Haven is an initiative of REACH Advocacy, a non-profit organization that previously had operated walk-in emergency shelters rather than longer-term housing. It also is seeking to launch a tiny house community called Edgerton Meadows.
Less than a year after its launch, Project Haven is fighting to stay open.
It needs $200,000 in the next few weeks to keep the lights on, leaders said in a plea for donations. It owes money to contractors and to the landlords who own its buildings.
One of the main problems apparently was a grave error in projecting its revenue.
The plan, REACH Advocacy board vice chairman Andy Carey said, was to host about 50 people who qualified for housing assistance from DHS and about 30 who did not.
With their state-provided money, the 50 would have helped subsidize the 30, in effect, along with donations and other funding sources.
Instead only about 20 of the current 80 residents qualify for DHS funding. The other 60 are "hospitality guests" — and the organization is warning that its hospitality soon will be exhausted.
'You will be expected to pay' at Project Haven, if no DHS qualification, or leave
"We're kind of upside-down with more hospitality and less DHS beds, and we just won't be able to function like that," Project Haven Executive Director Pam Smith said. "We can leave it like it is and close the doors or we can try to right-side the ship."
The letter that Brown received was part of that move to correct the model. It informed non-paying residents that they will need to find a way to contribute to their expenses or else move out.
"We will be assisting any hospitality guests ... with finding alternative housing or shelter," Smith wrote in the letter. "If for some reason there are no beds available at other shelters or hotels or you cannot live with family or friends, you will be expected to pay for your stay at Project Haven shelters. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you."
The letter said residents needed to act by Nov. 1. It is dated Oct. 26, but Brown said it wasn't delivered until Oct. 28, three days before the deadline.
Brown said that getting this notice from Project Haven had "thrown a monkey wrench" into her plans. Originally from New York City, Brown talked to the Democrat and Chronicle about her experiences of enduring abuse during her youth, which subsequently led to a life marked by estrangement from family and friends.
"You put me out in the winter," she said about Project Haven. "I'm fighting with (higher) Thanksgiving cost for Airbnbs and hotels, plus (higher) Christmas cost, and they don't care."
Is this letter an eviction notice from city shelter?
In practice, the deadline was extended until Nov. 3. And even Friday, the organization was unclear in answering questions about what specific demands it was placing on people being ejected from Project Haven.
Carey, the board president, said the letter was meant as an appeal for help rather than an eviction notice.
But, he conceded: "If I was homeless, I'd react to that letter in shock. It's kind of traumatic in my opinion. ... I'm not a huge fan of how we rolled it out."
He and Smith both said that no one would be evicted if it would mean going to live on the street.
But Smith also said that those who aren't doing enough to help themselves — by failing to complete their DHS applications, for instance, or by spending their public assistance money on drugs or alcohol — cannot expect the shelter to support them.
"Some people need to stop just using their funds for whatever and stop dodging us," she said. "As in all the homeless shelters, there are a few who are just hanging out, and that’s not what it’s supposed to be."
Brown is not just hanging out. She works two jobs and also is studying to become a certified nursing assistant.
She claims that she received no information regarding the cost of maintaining her housing through Project Involve, and her only interaction with the staff involved a notice to vacate by the end of the week.
Staying at the shelter was ideal because she only works part-time while in school and needs a cushion to pay rising rents in Rochester's housing market.
In the meantime, renting an Airbnb puts a dent in that cushion.
Will Project Haven in Rochester stay open?
If Project Haven can stay open for the next few weeks, its financial situation will stabilize for the winter. New York's Code Blue policy loosens some of the eligibility restrictions for homeless shelters in the winter, meaning more residents will qualify for DHS funding.
Smith and Carey said Project Haven would then switch its financial model to rely more on philanthropy and grants and less on DHS funding.
"We just have to put in the work, and I have faith things will work out," Smith said.
The biggest problem, she said, is the housing shortage everywhere in the city. People cannot move out of transitional housing if there are no affordable apartments available.
Finding housing has been challenging for Brown. Her financial woes are one barrier, and inexpensive options are another. "The only real affordable option for people out here like me is agreeing to rent from a slumlord."
A more prominent obstacle is fear. Brown wants to heal from her past trauma, and risking her safety with the wrong rental or in the wrong part of town brings her to tears.
"I can't do it," she said. "I expected more from this organization. I am hoping that I can find something before the real snow falls."
To learn more about REACH Advocacy or to donate, visit www.reachadvocacy.org.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester shelter residents fear eviction as Project Haven loses money
