“There’s nothing we’re more natural and good about doing than feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless”, Dolan said of churches.
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But homeless advocates said it is the wrong way to solve a growing problem.
De Blasio and Dolan chose a Franciscan community of friars who help the poor of the Bronx as the venue to make the announcement, WCBS 880’s John Metaxas reported.
“We know at some point he will do that”, de Blasio said, noting the pope already has done as much during the earlier part of his visit to Cuba and to Washington, D.C.
“And that’s the spirit that brings us here today”.
These types of shelters, known as “safe havens”, are usually run by nonprofits and have fewer restrictions compared to regular shelters. The city has seen a gap in services for several years, Human Resources Administration commissioner Steven Banks said – with 628 beds for domestic violence victims and their children added between 2002 and 2009, but none since.
De Blasio is expected to attend almost all the pope’s events once the pontiff arrives in New York on Thursday afternoon.
“The Catholic Church will honor the Pope’s visit by working with the City to provide up to 150 beds with social services for street homeless individuals by the winter”, the mayor’s office said.
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“What we’ve lacked is enough of these Safe Haven beds to be able to say in any given moment, ‘if you’re willing to come in, we can get you in right then while you’re willing, ‘” the mayor said. The city’s larger goal is to create 500 new beds for homeless people through partnerships with faith-based organizations, Metaxas reported. The 150 unveiled Wednesday will be in archdiocese properties.
