Celebrating Our New Shelter
After almost two years of renovation, our open house and ribbon-cutting event on Wednesday, October welcomed visitors to tour 433 Valley Street, celebrated this community-supported achievement, and thanked the many people responsible for the opening of this dignified space designed to meet the emotional and physical needs of adults experiencing homelessness. About 200 people attended.
The next day, we opened the doors to our guests. In this new space, guests feel safe enough to focus on health, personal growth, employment, and permanent housing.
Our two-floor, 6200 square foot shelter offers safety, dignity, and privacy to guests, and features:
- semi-private rooms (10) with bathrooms, showers and personal storage
- safe isolation space for sick guests to recover and prevent community spread
- ADA compliant access
- laundry facilities
- on-site health services in partnership with local providers
- showers and laundry for community members who choose not to enter shelter
- private meeting spaces for partner agencies
- a Technology Resource Center where guests can apply for critical documents, conduct job searches, and build digital skills
In this facility, guests are gaining the independence, confidence, and skills needed to move out of shelter and into permanent housing.
Guests at our open house included local and state officials, representatives from the Connecticut Department of Housing, major funders, construction crews, volunteers, board members and founders.
Students from the Windham Technical High School culinary program provided delicious snacks.
We also got to celebrate and thank Tom McNally, the man who – in 2003 – recognized the needs of those living without housing and started the Windham Region No Freeze Project. We are grateful beyond words for his vision and compassion.
Our new shelter facility would not have been possible without the generosity of David and Marilyn Foster whose Lester E. and Phyllis M. Foster Family Foundation bought the building at 433 Valley Street for Project HOPE.
