The old St. Joseph’s Central High School here in downtown Pittsfield is now serving as an emergency homeless shelter during the coronavirus pandemic.
The temporary shelter can house up to 60 people, and is open 24 hours a day.
It's being run by ServiceNet, who also operates the Barton’s Crossing homeless shelter.
Vice President of Shelter and Housing Jay Sacchetti says the goal is to avoid crowding as much as possible.
“Both of our facilities have people that are on top of each other, so the state has really advised us to do whatever we can to create an alternative site that provides that distancing.”
The shelter took 2 weeks to set up…
But Pittsfield fire chief Tom Sammons says the building was chosen by the city’s emergency management team as a potential emergency facility months ago.
“We identified St. Joe as being a recently closed building, it was well-maintained when it was put to bed … so we did a walk-through and saw that it was in amazing shape.”
Sammons says they considered many uses for the building before turning it into a temporary shelter.
“There’s always an ongoing need to help the homeless, and just as this kept going, that was the area where we were afraid could, you know, that really needed our help.”
Sacchetti says while no residents at the city’s homeless facilities have tested positive for COVID-19 so far…
They are taking precautions in the event someone does become sick.
“We’re in the process of also working with the city and the state and Community Health Plan to set up an isolation situation at a local hotel.”