Mayor Sundquist addresses organizations for a homelessness meeting (March 1, 2023)

As two months remain for the two new emergency shelters in Jamestown to provide housing for the homeless, a group working on homelessness is looking at what’s next.

A group of faith-based organizations, social service groups, and other non-profits has been coordinated by Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist to discuss the issue of homelessness in the city.

At an meeting on March 1, the Joy Fellowship and Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County provided an update on how their emergency shelters have been operating. Both facilities are only open during Code Blue situations, where the overnight temperature drops below 32 degrees.

MHA Executive Director Steven Cobb said he feels very positive about how things have gone with the shelters, “Today we have celebrated some of the successes we’ve had in providing housing with our Code Blue shelters in Jamestown, both at the MHA and Joy Fellowship. They’ve been very successful. And I think the other positive thing I leave here with is that there is a lot of support in the community to continue this and figure out what comes next.”

Cobb said there was a negative realization over the last couple months, “The folks we are serving in these shelters have enormous needs and at this point in the community we might not have all the resources we need to have in place to foster continued success for the folks in our community who are experiencing homelessness.”

MHA Project Manager Sean Jones said since January 6, there have been 142 individuals who have stayed at the MHA shelter.

Both facilities said they are in need for food donations, especially frozen meals, fresh fruit, yogurt, and milk. They also said donations of sturdy shoes and backpacks for adults are needed.

For more information about donations, contact Joy Fellowship at 716-484-1542 and the MHA at 716-661-9044.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist about 2022 including an update on American Rescue Plan fund spending, the uptick in gun violence, and the increase in homelessness.

Eddie Sundquist

Jamestown City Council

The five vetoes on the voting agenda include Mayor Eddie Sundquist‘s veto of Council’s $75,000 increase to sales tax revenues. The veto of the $6,500 cut to the Mayor’s Office travel and education line. A veto of the $5,600 cut to the Engineering supplies line. The veto of a $3,000 cut to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency. And the fifth veto is of the Appropriated Fund balance, which is to allow Council to reappropriate additional funds to balance the 2023 budget should they not override some or all of the vetoes.

Sundquist has proposed a further budget amendment to eliminate a bond interest payment in the amount of $52,964 that was related to the bond payment cut by Council from the budget. He said that by passing the amendment, Council could avoid a full veto override of the three cuts. It would also reduce the sales tax revenue increase needed by $37,864.

Council President Tony Dolce along with Finance Chair and Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund put out a statement last week about the Mayor’s veto of the cut to JURA in response to a news item that ran on a Buffalo television station, WKBW.

Both said the $3,000 cut was to a $5,000 increase from the 2021 budget. In 2021, the JURA budget was increased by $12,000. Dolce and Ecklund said the amount cut by council was “never designated to fund anything specifically for the homeless nor communicated that was the intention.”

They added that “…every department had to be evaluated and cut in places to make up this difference considering we are close to our constitutional tax limit. While we completely understand no one wants a cut we don’t appreciate the false narrative being shared considering the recent story which aired. The City of Jamestown was recently awarded a grant of $194,000 from HUD to address homelessness in Jamestown so this council is not ignoring the issues.”

The special voting session will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall. It is open to the public and will be livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.

Eddie Sundquist

Plans for two emergency homeless shelters that will have a total of 30 beds are coming together in the City of Jamestown.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said a third round of meetings on homelessness in the city took place Thursday between community groups, faith based groups, resource providers and medical providers.

He said as winter weather is on the horizon, the group wanted to make sure there was emergency shelters in place for “Code Blue” nights when the temperature drops below 32 degrees, “What’s unique about these shelters is that they’re different from anything else we have. One shelter will primarily focus on families that may need emergency sheltering and support during cold nights. And another one will focus on co-ed singles, something that we do not have here in the city. We’ve experienced in a lot of encampments those issues.”

Sundquist said the city still needs state and county approval, but the proposed shelter locations will be at Joy Fellowship Church on 7th Street and the Mental Health Association at the Gateway Center.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist answers questions about his proposed 2023 City Budget, American Rescue Plan monies, and gives an update on how the homelessness issue is being dealt with in Jamestown.

Eddie Sundquist

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist addresses Jamestown City Council (October 17, 2022)

The City of Jamestown has received a $194,000 HUD grant to help deal with homelessness issues.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist, in his Mayor’s report to City Council, said the city will have to develop a plan for use of the funds with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development encouraging that it be used for rapid response.

He said resource providers, local church organizations, and medical providers have met to discuss both long-term solutions and short term emergency shelter.

Sundquist said Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc. has taken the lead with the county on the issue and that one to two sites have been identified as potential emergency winter shelters, “So, it would be a nighttime, usually from around 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. Those sites would also then provide security at the locations, food, we’d have other churches and other groups provide resources there. We’d have social workers and other resource providers come to that location and we were also talking about potentially having once a week a medical provider come on site.”

Sundquist said they hope to get details finalized in the next week. He said with the weather turning cooler there is a need for emergency shelters, “On an average night across Chautauqua County when there is a ‘Code Blue,’ the weather is under 32 degrees, they have about seven people across the county that they have to shelter. That number is expected to double or triple this year with just Jamestown alone.”

Sundquist said resource providers are also discussing creating a shelter just for people with addiction needs or who are in recovery. He added that most of the current shelters in Jamestown are full.

City Council Public Forum held September 14, 2022

Questions and opinions on how to deal with the rising homeless population in Jamestown were raised during City Council‘s public forum on Wednesday.

Several questions were raised about what is being done about the homeless people under the North Main Street viaduct and for homeless women and children.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said many people don’t realize there are only two shelters in Jamestown, with one housing men and the other housing women and children of domestic violence.

He said a census of homeless people in Jamestown has revealed new challenges, “Many years, that has been about 25 to 30 people. In the last several months, we have now seen an increase of over 70 people or more in just certain areas. So, it has risen rapidly across the city. In many cases it’s visible. We’ve always had homelessness, let’s be clear about that, it has not been as visible as it has been.”

Sundquist said the end of the COVID-19 eviction moratorium has led to increased evictions and movement of people to Jamestown.

He said he had met with over 60 local pastors Tuesday night along with council members to discuss homelessness.

Sundquist said in talking with other cities, that when faith leaders and resource providers work together, they’ve been able to tackle issues like emergency sheltering, getting resources to people, and, ultimately, getting people off the street, “That’s a model we’re trying to do right here in the city of Jamestown. And in the next two weeks we’ll be bringing both those groups together to start to look at that model. Because we’re afraid when winter comes, when the snow comes, we’re going to start to see people in abandoned homes. We’re going to potentially see people dead on the street. And that’s something we do not want to happen.”

Police Chief Tim Jackson said on every shift, officers having been meeting with the people taking shelter under the North Main Street viaduct to try to move them along while also handing out informational pamphlets about resources available for help.

Several comments were made by audience members about not wanting to give “hand outs, but hand ups” to homeless people, including not offering food to homeless but instead donating money and food to shelters and food pantries.

Mental Health Association Project Manager Sean Jones spoke up, saying “there are no hand outs in town” and that the MHA works with the homeless on a daily basis, “We help them navigate the system through the town. If there is a hand-out, yes, sometimes we give them a sandwich or a cup of coffee, but that’s how we build trust with them so they will trust us to then go through the process. And one of the things we have to go through is when we bring them to their appointment, they can sign up for help to get housing, to get food, to get medical assistance, to get a lot of different things.”

Jones said there are rules involved with getting this help, so if a participant is late or misses an appointment, they can be sanctioned for 45 days where they have to wait that entire time in order to reapply for services.

Sheriff Jim Quattrone, who had previously worked with a homeless ministry, said when it comes to homeless issues, one size doesn’t fit all, “There are some people that need that hand-out. They need it right now to survive. But then we need to do a rehabilitation. And how we talk to them, ‘How do you see yourself improving? What do you need now to survive? What do you need for the next month to survive? And then moving forward, the month after that?’ And then we have to have a development. It’s kind of like, give a fish, feed them for a day, teach them to fish, feed them for a lifetime.”

Quattrone said people should try visiting somewhere like St. Susan Center to have a non-judgmental conversation with those who are homeless or food insecure. He added that while there are a lot of resources in Chautauqua County, he’s been meeting monthly with area groups to learn what gaps need to be filled.

Jamestown City Council work session (September 12, 2022)

City officials and local organizations are continuing to meet to work on ways to address rising homelessness in Jamestown.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist updated City Council on a meeting held Monday with organizations that are part of the county’s Homeless Coalition including the Salvation Army, UCAN Mission, Chautauqua Opportunities, Southern Tier Environments for Living, UPMC, and more, “What we’ve normally seen in the past is homelessness that includes folks that have been kicked out of shelters or have been sanctioned by the county or other providers for whatever violation of services they provided. We would normally see about 25 to 30, that’s what the last census was of homeless here in the city. We are finding encampments that can be up to 50 to 70 people. And we are trying to work to deal with it.”

Sundquist said part of the discussion included planning for winter given that individuals without housing often look for abandoned houses to break into in order to stay warm.

He said the city had a meeting scheduled with with local pastors Tuesday night to discuss homelessness and how the faith community can assist. A second Homeless Coalition meeting is scheduled for later this month.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist and City Council President Tony Dolce at City Council’s Work Session on August 22, 2022

Homelessness in Jamestown and efforts to combat it topped discussions by Jamestown City Council Monday night.

Housing Committee Chair Marie Carrubba said the issue of homelessness in downtown Jamestown, including people camping under the South Main Street viaduct, isn’t new and that the Homeless Coalition has been trying to address it for over 15 years, “The moratorium that was lifted on evictions has now created more of a homeless problem in the city because those individuals are no longer housed where they were not paying rent and utilities. So, we’re seeing more and more on the streets. I believe police, public safety, have been down trying to address the issue. I know the city has been down there offering assistance and giving resources and information to the individuals who have been there.”

Council member at Large Jeff Russell said he planned to talk to the groups of homeless people to find out what their situations are, “Are they from Jamestown or have they come here from somewhere else? Did they have housing? Were they removed from housing and what the situation is? I’m not going to leave it up to others to do that. I’m going to do it myself. And if there’s any other council members that want to join me, to come down and have a chat, and just see how we can help or what their situation is, then I would welcome that.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said challenges in Jamestown include the evictions, the location of the city and cost of living; weather, and homeless shelters being at capacity. He said there are some actions the city is taking right now to try to address homeless issues including moving homeless populations out of unsafe areas like the viaduct or near unsafe buildings, “As we shift out of more visible areas, you’re seeing more people end up in our parks. You’re seeing more people end up under other areas. And so we’re trying really hard to keep up with that. At the same time, we’re providing resources. You mentioned the beat patrols – we send out foot patrols down to provide resources. We also work with our partners at COI, at UCAN Mission, with Salvation Army Domestic Violence, and others.”

Sundquist said the city is also working with the county, who has a program to provide funds for those who are here in Jamestown and don’t have the means to get back to wherever they call home. He said in early September, the Homeless Coalition will be having an in-person meeting in Jamestown, “Their entire goal has been to really focus on funding and on the ground support. So I personally went to that group and made a plea and said, ‘You need to be in Jamestown. What good are you as a group if you’re not physically here helping the people that we have.'”

Sundquist said the date will be announced this week. He added that local churches will be invited as well.

Chautauqua Opportunities

The award is part of $17.3 million in state funding announced by Governor Kathy Hochul that will provide emergency and permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals.

COI Director of Housing and Community Development Josiah Lamp said they’re excited to be able serve women who are homeless in the community, “So this project is to build a temporary shelter for women who are over the age of 18. It’ll have about 18 total beds in the shelter and be located in downtown Jamestown in a building that is currently a mixed-use, multi-unit; and rehab that building and make it suitable for serving the homeless.”

Lamp said the only homeless shelter for women currently available is a domestic violence shelter. He said the benefit of the location is that it will be close to services.

Lamp added that the end of the eviction moratorium on January 15 that had been in place due to the Pandemic has increased the number of homeless people in the county, “Since the beginning of January, there have been 176 people who have been in a homeless shelter, at least for one night, which is definitely an increase over what what we have experienced over the last year. And we’re expecting that to continue to be a trend as more cases go to court and we see more evictions pending.”

Lamp said those needing to access services can call the County Department of Social Services in Jamestown at (716) 661-8200. He said the homeless shelter is scheduled to open in 2023.