The Harbor Homes winter homeless shelter opens Friday, Nov. 1, what is expected to be the shelter’s final season at the M.V. Community Services campus as its leadership searches for a new, permanent location.
Harbor Homes is also ready to host an all-time-high number of guests this year, following a record of 54 individual guests across last season. The shelter hit its limit of 20 guests in one night multiple times last year. They’ll be helped this winter by the addition of five new beds which increase their overnight capacity to 25 guests.
Winter shelter coordinator Lisa Belcastro said they’ve already seen high turnout the last two weekly lunches over the summer. “We saw between 12 to 22 guests at each lunch location. Some of those guests were new to Harbor Homes this summer,” Belcastro told The Times. “Given the numbers of new guests we assisted this summer and the increased housing crisis, we are prepared for an increased number of guests.”
If the shelter exceeds capacity and has to turn anyone away, those in need will be directed to stay in Vineyard Hotels as part of a respite program.
The Overnight Winter Shelter opens at 6 pm and runs through the night of April 18. The shelter closes for the season on Saturday, April 19 at 8 am and is open all day on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The shelter will also be open all day if the daytime temperature is forecast to remain under 28 degrees.
