Father Bill's pushes back opening of new homeless shelter; need greater than ever

QUINCY − Visitors to the city's homeless shelter will start spending the night at a new housing resource center and emergency shelter this August, Father Bill's and Mainspring President John Yazwinski told Quincy city councilors this week.

The new space, which is replacing a crumbling building on Broad Street to make way for a new police station, had its initial spring opening date pushed back by supply-chain issues and delays, Yazwinski said. The new facility, which will span 36,000 square feet across two buildings, is up the road from the existing shelter. A ribbon cutting is planned for June.

"This is the next moment in time for the city of Quincy, I hope, in how we take care of each other," Yazwinski said.

Father Bill's was forced from its current building by the ongoing Quincy police station project, which will extend onto the shelter's current lot. The nonprofit used the opportunity to fundraise for the $25 million, two-phase project that will include an emergency homeless center and day shelter alongside a building with permanent housing.

The day center will have a full-service medical clinic operated by Manet Community Health Center, a commercial kitchen, a library, showers, lockers and a laundry. Staff members will provide services such as housing support, case management, employment help and addiction support.

The emergency shelter will house people who need it overnight and there will also be 30 permanent housing units for those who've experienced "chronic homelessness."

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The state contributed about $13 million to the project through the Department of Housing and Community Development, as well as low-income housing tax credits. Quincy has chipped in about $3 million through the use of city land, a $1 million gift from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and a $250,000 housing choice grant. A fundraising campaign run by Father Bill's has raised $9.8 million of its $10 million goal.

"We are absolutely ecstatic about this," Yazwinski said last Monday.

He said the number of people staying at the Quincy shelter overnight has risen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before, he said the winter average was 130 people per night. This winter, an average of 147 people stayed at the shelter each night, with a high of 175 people one particularly cold evening. Yazwinski said 180 Quincy students are experiencing homelessness.

"We're seeing more individuals out on our streets, we're seeing more campsites," he said. "It's just been a combination of the pandemic, inflation, cost of living. We've seen a tremendous rise in people 60 and over. Our population has doubled for elderly people, fixed incomes and the disabled coming into places like Father Bill's."

The years-in-the-making police station project has also been a victim of supply-chain delays and inflated construction costs. The project was given an additional $23 million by city councilors in November, bringing the total price tag to about $175 million.

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The 120,000-square-foot, four-story building will house the city's police station and include administrative offices for the fire department, a firearm training range and headquarters for the city's emergency operations, as well as a roll call room, training space and other amenities officials say the current station lacks.

The project included buying five pieces of land, extensive utility work, extending roads and tearing down several buildings. Several pieces of the project – including installing a new city vehicle fueling station and extending Field Street – have already been done, but much of the work can't start until the current Father Bill's shelter is demolished.

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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Father Bill's housing resource center in Quincy to open in August