Mayor: Cashin senior center to host Manchester homeless for overnights starting Friday

Mark Hayward, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
Updated ·2 min read

Jan. 6—Mayor Joyce Craig announced that the Cashin Senior Activity Center will host a temporary warming station for homeless people starting on Friday evening, following a tumultuous week regarding the city's homeless population.

The Cashin center, which is located on Main Street on the West Side, will open at 7 p.m. and close 6 a.m. on a daily basis.

The question now moves to whether city officials will enforce an ordinance that allows them to clear campers from city property if space is available in shelters.

The mayor's office did not reply to an email question, but a source said the city is considering removing tents each day from the sidewalks around the Families in Transition shelter. Several dozen tents line the sidewalks on Pine and Manchester streets.

The Cashin center will be staffed by Manchester police and fire officers, and the city will provide transportation between the Cashin center and 1269 Cafe. The city will also provide temporary storage of personal items.

In a seven-paragraph statement, the mayor's office said the warming center will not interfere with regular business or senior activities. The company Aramark will clean every morning with electrostatic sprayers and disinfectants.

Ventilation and filtration in the building were already improved with federal American Recue Plan dollars, the office said.

"The Cashin center is a valued space in the Manchester community that has a particular significance for me and my family," said Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Management Ryan Cashin. The center is named after his father, William Cashin, who served as an alderman from the West Side for decades.

"The decision to use this space as a temporary emergency warming station was made to address the urgent need to save lives this winter," Cashin said.

Already this winter, two homeless campers in Manchester have died in tents, one outside the Families in Transition homeless shelter on Christmas Eve. And Manchester made national headlines when the adult daughter of former Red Sox pitching great Dennis Eckersley was accused of giving birth in a wooded area of Manchester and leaving the newborn child alone in a tent on Christmas night.

But elected Manchester officials came under pressure on Tuesday, when areas of Manchester street and downtown businesses implored the city to address issues of homelessness. They complained about trash and sanitation associated with the encampment.

The statement said the city is pursuing more suitable space for a round-the-clock emergency winter shelter. It noted that state-funded emergency shelters, including the FiT shelter in Manchester, are full.

City officials on Friday opened the Manchester Emergency Operations Center, which will serve as a "consolidation point" for police, fire, health, public works and other city departments to address homeless issues, the statement said.