MACC Charities Homeless Shelter in Manchester to Shut Down

State policy is for homeless shelters accepting state funds to admit even homeless people actively abusing alcohol or drugs, but the shelter on Main Street in Manchester won’t do that, so it plans to close its doors on July 1.

MACC Charities, run by the Manchester Area Conference of Churches, which operates the 40-bed shelter, recently decided to shut it down rather than comply with the state requirement, said MACC Executive Director Beth Stafford, according to the Hartford Courant and other reports. The shelter accepts all homeless people only when it’s extremely hot or cold, the newspaper reported.

The Connecticut Department of Housing funds $174,000 of the shelter’s $330,000 annual budget, according to the Courant. Stafford said her organization doesn’t have the staff to supervise active substance abusers, and the shelter’s purpose is to help people get back on their feet, not “warehousing” those who aren’t interested in getting better, she said. Aside from its shelter program, MACC has outreach workers who help homeless people on the streets, including those with substance abuse addictions, the newspaper reported.

“This mandate is not in line with MACC Charities’ mission to help the residents of Manchester and Bolton who are serious about accepting help to get back on their feet. MACC is not a drug and alcohol or mental health institution,” Stafford said in a statement, as reported by NBC Connecticut. “MACC Charties is a faith based human services organization designed to meet the basic needs of residents of the towns of Manchester and Bolton in emergency situations.”

Lisa Tepper Bates, executive director of the Hartford-based Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, told the newspaper that the best practice for shelters is to let in everybody and get services to them when shelter is provided, as the large majority of shelters do. Steve DiLella, the state housing department’s interim director of individual and family services, said that the state policy is in line with a national “Housing First” policy. Homeless substance abusers cost taxpayers more when they’re left on the streets, he said.

According to the 2014 MACC Charities Annual Report, a total of 567 people over the course of a year.

Image from the MACC Charities website

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