Beth-El Center Meets Challenge Of Soaring Food, Shelter Needs

MILFORD, CT — The coronavirus economic fallout quickly sent food insecurity skyrocketing with the additional challenge of figuring out how to run a soup kitchen and homeless shelter amid a pandemic. The Beth-El Center in Milford met the challenge by quickly rethinking how it could safely provide vital basic needs.

“In March we shifted to meals- to =-go for all of our meal services, and we’ve seen a 70 percent increase in food need over the course of the past 8 months,” Executive Director Jennifer Paradis.

The pandemic turned the light on to how many people are food insecure or at-risk of food insecurity, she said.

Feeding America estimates that one in eight Connecticut residents struggle with hunger. One out of every six Connecticut children struggles with hunger.

Then came the other challenge of safely housing homeless people amid a pandemic. Beth-El used nearby motel rooms to for shelter access in order to cut down on congregate housing. The center performs daily health assessments for every resident along with bi-weekly coronavirus testing. Anyone who tests positive can quarantine and isolate.

Beth-El opened its no-freeze shelter program on Dec. 1 for when temperatures drop below freezing. There are also emergency beds for people who need a bed for a night on short notice.

The pandemic also showed how safe housing for everyone benefits the community as a whole by keeping more people healthy, Paradis said.

“It showed how critical safe healthy housing is for everyone, it’s a basic human right,” she said.

The Beth-El Center started more than 30 years ago when a group of Milford churches worked together to address the growing homelessness and food needs of people in the Greater New Haven Area. It moved to its current location on New Haven Avenue in 1995.

Beth-El provides services beyond immediate food and shelter needs. A diversion program helps people with housing instability or who are at imminent risk of homelessness figure out solutions to their situation. Another mobile case management program helps unsheltered people who want to access the shelter system or find a permanent housing solution.

This article originally appeared on the Milford Patch