Old city jail is renovated into a new shelter for homeless men

John Shaw, center, from Dayton is shown the lockers by Gateway director of service, Jenny Lesniak, left, during a tour of the new Gettysburg Gateway for Men homeless shelter.

Jim Noelker/Staff photographer John Shaw, center, from Dayton is shown the lockers by Gateway director of service, Jenny Lesniak, left, during a tour of the new Gettysburg Gateway for Men homeless shelter.

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Photos: New homeless shelter

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By Angela Watson Gay, Staff Writer Updated 11:11 PM Tuesday, October 20, 2009

DAYTON — The parking lot at the old city jail on Gettysburg Avenue overflowed into the street Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the open house of a new men’s shelter.

The folks at St. Vincent De Paul Hotel, a night shelter for men, women and children, know about overflow. When the Apple Street facility reaches its bed capacity, people finding themselves labeled “overflow” get a mat on the floor or they don’t get a shelter at all.

Gettysburg Gateway for Men should alleviate some of that. The men who once stayed at St. Vincent on Apple Street will be at the 178-bed facility at 1613 Gettysburg Ave., opening up more beds for women and children at St. Vincent, which is to be renovated.

There is also space at Gateway for an additional 60 men to sleep during extreme weather.

John Shaw of Dayton has been homeless about eight months and often stays at St. Vincent. He walked through Gateway on Tuesday, commenting on how much work had been done. “It’s a lot better than having 100 people in one room,” he said of the eight- or 16-bed dorm rooms.

Rooms once used for isolation in the jail will be used for incentive. They’re in the employment wing — a pod of 24 single rooms with a sink and toilet — for those who are working.

Shaw, 58, said lived with and cared for his mother, who has Alzheimer’s, until she was placed in a nursing home. “She was the only family I had,” he said, describing himself as displaced because “homeless” is a permanent state.

“I’m not going to be like this forever,” he said.

St. Vincent and The Other Place worked together on the three-year project. The Other Place, a day shelter, will handle Gateway’s operations, including food service.

“A fresh coat of paint is great,” said Tina Patterson, executive director of The Other Place, “but there’s a new emphasis of changing the entire mentality of serving the homeless, that they move into permanent housing.”

The $3 million renovation included a kitchen, office space for case managers, classrooms, and a gym with basketball court.

Shaw and others were curious to see the 300, half-size lockers where they’d store belongings. Some wondered how they’d get to the homeless clinic on Catherine Street, nearly 5 miles away.

“In the winter when the weather’s bad it’ll probably take an hour to walk downtown,” Shaw said. An RTA bus will stop four to five times a day at Gateway, but “riding the bus takes money,” he said.

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