Long-awaited Herkimer warming center opens: How it will address rise in homelessness

When Antwone Jamison was living on the streets — first as a teenager in Brooklyn, then as a young adult bouncing around from, city to city — few moments stood out like the day he stepped inside a shelter in Binghamton.

There Jamison found what he needed most, what had long eluded him: the people, the place and access to the state services that ultimately helped him get back on his feet.

Now 26, Jamison, who lives with his brother in Herkimer, has turned his attention to helping young people in similar circumstances. He works at Loaves and Fishes warming center, a local facility that he hopes will help make the difference in others' lives that the shelter in Binghamton made for him.

"My goal is to give back as much as I can to the community," he said. "My focus is to give back to the community and give back to the children as much as possible."

Loaves and Fishes is the creation of Joelle Faulks, a pastor for the United Methodist Church of Herkimer and Morningstar United Methodist Church in Ilion. Faulks is the nonprofit organization's president, and has been working to provide a place for people without homes in Herkimer County to lay their heads since 2020.

The effort has faced a litany of obstacles since then, but Loaves and Fishes has finally found its home at the Herkimer Salvation Army on North Prospect Street.

'Built for the community': Herkimer church hopes to start homeless warming center

Entertainment:'A Snowy Day in Oakland' draws on director's Utica childhood: Where to see the film

Animal cruelty:Dog abandoned in Herkimer County prompts activists' call for harsher penalties

What's offered at Loaves and Fishes warming center in Herkimer

The warming center is open from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily from October through April. Adults without a home can come in, store their personal belongings in lockers for the night, enjoy snacks, a movie, and a warm place to sleep.

"The staff has been wonderful with our guests," said Christine Morris, vice president of Loaves and Fishes. "[They] make them feel very comfortable, we want you [to feel] at home."

The center does not provide a dinner meal, but snacks are offered throughout the night and when people leave in the morning, along with breakfast.

How the warming center idea was born and evolved

Faulks said that the idea for the warming center began three years ago, as a result of a Bible study group she led at the United Methodist Church of Herkimer. The group decided to make "homeless kits" — bags full of supplies that people who live on the streets might find helpful — and keep them in their cars to hand out to people.

Faulks was inspired to go a step further when she heard about Worship Without Walls, a street ministry set up by her friend the Rev. Carol Jubenville in Utica.

"I invited her to come talk to us," said Faulks. "And within a week, I think, after she talked to us, we're like, 'OK, we're doing this.'"

Faulks' group began their own street ministry modeled after Jubenville's. They gathered outside the library in Herkimer once a week, and handed out free food, coffee, water and supplies.

But they believed there was still more they could do.

The number of homeless people in Herkimer County increased by 162% from 2020 to 2021, according to New York State's Continuum of Care, a state-backed community initiative to end homelessness. Suddenly there were 42 people without homes where a year ago there had been 16.

What they needed, Faulks thought, was a warming center.

Originally, the plan was to run it out of the United Methodist Church, but the property would need renovating. Other churches in the area came with similar hurdles. A generous fundraising campaign ensured Loaves and Fishes could become a 501(c)(3) and apply for state grants, and the warming center's building was ultimately secured through a partnership with another local organization.

Faulks and Morris pitched the idea to Herkimer Salvation Army captains Derrick and Heather Purvis after Morris volunteered at the organization's soup kitchen. It was the ideal place, she thought. "People are already coming here who need help, so, why not?"

The Purvises agreed.

"I was like, 'Heather, this is exactly what we're called to do is serve people,'" said Derrick Purvis.

Loaves and Fishes plans for the future

Since opening, the Loaves and Fishes team have looked at their early weeks of operation, and at the end date for their services this year quickly approaching. The warming center, they hope, offers a more communal environment than a traditional shelter might, but its seasonal setup is limiting.

They have plans to change that in the future, and add to the existing model with expanded services, daytime hours, year-round availability and full meals.

For now, Jamison looks at Loaves and Fishes as a welcome resource for people living in Herkimer County.

"A lot of things happen in the streets," he said. "What I had to go through, that I didn't have to go through... it made me change for the better. There comes a certain time where you have to change."

For more information or to donate to the Loaves and Fishes warming center, visit First United Methodist Church or the Herkimer Salvation Army, both on North Prospect Street in Herkimer.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Herkimer warming center opens