Stamford debuts a renewed home for city’s homeless
Pacific House Executive Director Rafael Pagan Jr., right, and Connecticut Department of Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno lead a tour of the newly-renovated building in Stamford, Conn. Monday, Sept. 29, 2020. The men's emergency shelter held a ribbon cutting Tuesday for its facility that is finishing up a complete interior renovation.
Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media
STAMFORD — Clients of Pacific House, the city’s homeless shelter for men, will soon leave the Super 8 hotel where they were moved at the start of the pandemic to increase distancing.
Some will move into Pacific House’s affordable housing complexes, or find a place to live with a housing voucher or through reunification with friends and family.
Others will move into the agency’s emergency shelter in the South End. Those who lived at the shelter before will find the place much changed from the one they left.
City and state officials gathered at the shelter Tuesday to unveil its new amenities after months of renovations.
“This is our 35th year as an agency. It’s a major milestone,” said Pacific House Executive Director Rafael Pagan Jr. “We’re celebrating that effort, and that just coincided with the upgrade of our facility and what we’re doing for our consumers.”
The Pacific House’s redesign was funded by a $740,000 grant from the state Department of Housing. Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno has been working with shelters across the state during the pandemic to ensure that facilities are safe for the state’s homeless community.
“[The Pacific House remodel] is beyond words,” said Mosquera-Bruno. “We wanted to make sure that people, although in tough times, had a decent, safe place to stay.”
The upgraded shelter features higher ceilings, more private bathrooms and better windows to keep light flowing into bedrooms. Pacific House is also equipped with Wi-Fi throughout the shelter, and each guest gets his own cubby where he can work on a resume or search for housing.
Pacific House also received funds from the Greenwich Community Development Block Grant program to equip the Stamford facility with new furniture to match the upgraded second floor.
“One of the deep and really tragic ironies of this pandemic is just in the moment that we need people to stay home, more people have been losing their housing than ever,” said state Rep. Matt Blumenthal at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“The reality is that more people have are facing these problems than ever and Pacific House’s mission is more important than ever.”
The new Pacific House is also equipped with a quarantine room to keep the COVID-19 virus isolated in case someone tests positive. Of the 96 people sheltered through Pacific House during the last seven months, one has tested positive for the virus.
Despite that success, social distancing guidelines have placed a strict cap on the emergency shelter’s capacity.
Prior to the pandemic, Pacific House could accommodate 67 men in its emergency housing. Now, capacity is down to 40 beds to keep adequate spacing between guests, although the remodel gives the shelter enough space for up to 80 people.
Along with its more modern interiors, Pacific House is embracing a modern approach to serving its clients.
“We want to be a low-barrier, trauma-informed shelter,” said Rob Lockhart, the center’s director of program services.