Shortage of volunteers threatens opening of Milford homeless shelter

MILFORD — As temperatures drop, options for a warm bed become more scarce for people in need of shelter.  

In Milford, the homeless often turn to Pathway to a Better Life — a pop-up shelter that opens its doors to single adults once temperatures drop below 20 degrees. 

But as the calendar turns to December, Lisa Trusas, who is the secretary of the board that runs the shelter out of St. Mary of the Assumption Church, says a shortage of volunteers is threatening the shelter’s ability to open this year. 

“We are having a really hard time getting volunteers for some reason this year,” she said. “I don't know if it's because of COVID and people are nervous.” 

So far, the shelter has trained 10 volunteers, but it needs at least 10 more to operate.  

Volunteers would cover shifts of 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., or stay the entire night. They check in guests and their belongings, hand them a COVID-19 questionnaire, escort them to where they’d be sleeping for the night, and ensure everybody's safety.

Trusas hopes to see more volunteers come aboard as training days approach, on Dec. 12 and Dec. 19.

“Ideally, we would like to have about 30 volunteers because of the nature of the overnight shift,” she said. “We want to make sure we’re not using and abusing the ones who are willing to cover more of the shifts.” 

Trusas said the first time the shelter opened its doors in 2019 was “successful,” noting it was staffed properly and COVID-19 and homelessness were not on the rise.

But last November, she noticed an alarming dip in volunteers — and a rise in people needing shelter. She feared an inability to open the shelter's doors.  

The crisis was abated when more people stepped forward to volunteer by mid-December, but it's no guarantee it will happen again this year, Trusas said. 

Hotel Grace

Up until the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, Hotel Grace in Worcester operated a program similar to that of Pathway to a Better Life. 

It opened its mostly volunteer-run, 60-bed shelter only on colder nights during a seasonal window from fall to spring.

But after COVID-19 took hold, Hotel Grace opened its doors around the clock, thanks to money pumped in from the CARES Act. It not only began offering three meals per day and showers to its services, it also became an employee-run program.

Director of Operations Brian Ashmankas said the program's expansion provided better services for those in need of shelter, and also resolved the issue of a shortage of volunteers, especially during the pandemic. 

"Part of the reason we were funded (to become employee-run) is that it's a lot harder to get volunteers during COVID-19 for these situations," he said. "They're around a vulnerable population, it's not the safest place you could be and there's just a certain amount of risk that you're always going to have."

Hotel Grace opened its doors as a full-time program just over a year ago and operated through May. It reopened in October, and will remain so until May 2022. 

Ashmankas said the shelter continues to welcome volunteers, but by operating with a paid staff, he no longer fears any workforce shortages. 

"We do have some volunteers that help us out, but when we're short of volunteers, it's not as much of a crisis as it is when it's total volunteer operation or mostly volunteer operation," he said. 

As for this winter, Trusas doesn’t expect more than five people in one night, but she knows that between mental health issues, substance abuse and financial difficulties, there will be in an influx of people in need of shelter, who she wants to help by making sure the doors are open. 

January 2020 data of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness found 17,975 homeless people in Massachusetts. Among them were 2,042 single adults. 

As a dispatcher with the Milford Police Department, Trusas uses her resources on her day job to direct calls relevant to sheltering toward Pathway to a Better Life.  

Cold nights have already prompted numerous calls from single adults in need of shelter, even though the 20-degree threshold hadn't quite been met.  

“Right now, I can think of at least four or five people who are living on the streets or who are living in ATMs and will be utilizing us,” said Trusas. “If we can’t help them, they’re going to be very cold.”