By Jack Krampitz         

St. Vincent DePaul Mission Shelter for the homeless has had to weather several crises in the last few months. In February, Phil Lysiak, the shelter director for over 20 years passed away. And shortly after his passing, the entire Covid 19 Pandemic hit the country, and the shelter has had to make numerous adjustments to stay operational.

Two Bristol residents, Don Palaia and Tom Morrow agreed to step up as voluntary co-directors, while St. Vincent’s looks for new leadership. (In the spirit of full disclosure, Morrow actually lives in Whigville, the metropolis north of Bristol, but we all consider him an honorary Bristolite for all the good he has done here.)

In a phone interview with Morrow, I learned that Palaia has been going to the shelter almost daily, helping out and running around picking up necessities. Morrow said he has been working from home, using his computer and phone to communicate with staff and process paperwork.

Morrow provided the following information.

When the virus hit in March, shelters in Connecticut were given orders to go into a decompression mode, the equivalent of social distancing. St. Vincent’s went into the decompression with about 15 clients in the shelter at that time. They placed all the beds and seating arrangements so that the six-foot spacing was observed, and they set up a separate section of the shelter for people considered at-risk (over 65 or with a pre-existing condition). Clients were allowed to go outside for cigarette breaks and to take short, supervised walks. Other than that, they stayed in the shelter at all times.

New clients were not accepted until this week, but with the loosening of restrictions coming over the next few weeks, new clients will be accepted, and existing clients will be free to go out on their own as was always the case. As far as testing, only a handful of client and staff have been tested for the virus up to now, but the goal is for everyone getting a test in the near future. As for when that will actually happen, that is not known at this time.

St. Vincent’s has a capacity for about 25 clients, but with the decompression in place, the capacity drops to about 15. The estimate is that there are approximately 30 to 50 homeless currently in Bristol, and some choose to live in the outside wherever they can find shelter. Those who want to enter St. Vincent’s program are required to go through an admissions process, so that those with the greatest need are admitted first.

St. Vincent has also been in discussions with Immanuel Lutheran Church to open their gym so that homeless who are not in the shelter can have a place to go for showers and bathroom needs. It is hoped that can begin in the next few weeks.

There is a staff of eight who work at the shelter on a rotating basis, but at the moment, the organization is down a cook. They have contracted with Emily’s Catering to provide three meals a week, and Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu has recruited various philanthropic groups throughout the city to provide meals on the other four days. Anyone interested in applying for the position as cook should contact the shelter at (860) 589-0702.

Contracting for meals has an added an unexpected expense and strain to the shelter’s budget, which has also been negatively affected since its biggest fund-raisers like the Shamrock Walk and Run had to be cancelled. To contribute, visit the shelter’s website for specific items: https://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/cgi-bin/id/shelter.cgi?shelter=9577.

Jack Krampitz is a retired Bristol school teacher and TBE contributing editor.