St. Joseph's House of Hospitality of Rochester, NY

We are glad to hear there is no longer a planned sweep for the Civic Center Garage on Monday! We look forward to truly working with the County to come up with transformative solutions that center the needs and voices of our homeless neighbors. Thank you to all of the public who offered support! Together we can end homelessness and make housing a human right!

We are highly concerned about the legislation that the Monroe County Legislature passed this past Tuesday 5/11 in regards to the individuals living in the Civic Center Garage. Although it is a step in the right direction to offer housing to those who live there, it is unclear what specifically will be offered and if it will be tailored to meet the specific needs of these individuals. The County draws a line in the sand when they explicitly say they agree to use all applicab...le public authorities to enforce existing laws, ordinances, rules and regulations pertaining to the Civic Center Garage. Homelessness and poverty are not crimes, the system that causes it is. We will not stand for this and as a community we must demand more from our elected officials. If you want to read the legislation go to https://tinyurl.com/3avhyue6 and scroll to page 618. A full video of the legislature is available below and this conversation starts 2 hours and 37 minutes in. Call Adam Bello at 585-753-1000 and ask him what the specific long-term sustainable housing plan is for the long term residents of the garage? We need dignified and creative housing solutions that are centered around the individuals.

We are hearing that Monroe County is planning to kick the folks experiencing homelessness who live in the Civic Center Garage out on Monday morning. Many of these individuals have lived in there for years and have made it their home. Any of these individuals who refuses to leave will be risking arrest. This is not the solution. We are prepared to stand up to Adam Bello and Monroe County to stop this including but not limited to putting our bodies in the way. Stay tuned for more info about how you can support. Right now we need people to call Adam Bello and tell him to stop the inhumane treatment of our homeless neighbors. His number is 585-753-1000.

As you all know our house has been around for many years and that can mean that many parts of our house are outdated and need to be replaced in order to keep our kitchen/shelter functioning properly. We are in the process of trying to replace our current furnace with the help of Tee Pee Temperature Control. The replacement is estimated to cost around $10,00. If you are able to donate, anything would help. We want to continue to serve our guests to the best of our ability and... will be able to do that with your generosity. Below is our PayPal link: http://www.saintjoeshouse.org/blog/donate/ You can also mail a check to 402 South Ave Rochester, NY 14620 and put furnace in the memo line. Thank you so much for helping us to continue to perform the Works of Mercy!

Happy International Women's Day! "International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity."

St. Joe's is a part of the Police Accountability Board Alliance. Checkout this community conversation about the City of Rochester's plan to change policing.

Wishing a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our house to yours!! We know this year had looked so different and had so many unique challenges. We are thankful to do what we do in community and with bold love. We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.

Happy Thanksgiving from our kitchen to yours!! We are thankful to serve our neighbors today, even if it looks a little different than normal. In the words of Dorothy Day, No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.

The eviction crisis must be stopped unless we want to see the largest wave of homeless in our lifetime. We are honored to stand in solidarity with the other co-signers of this letter to call on our elected officials to provide our community with a real eviction moratorium.

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching we continue to grateful for the connections we are able to make each day in our community one one bagged lunch at a time. Although this year looks has looked so different, we are still planning to serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal but in boxes. In addition, we are creating bags to send home for people to prep from themselves if they want to. We are actively collecting the following items Monday through Saturday from 9AM-12:30PM. Cann...ed green beans Cream of mushroom soup Boxed stuffing Potato’s sweet and white Butter Frozen pumpkin pies Whipped cream Coffee Creamer Mens winter gloves Thank you all for your continuous generosity! Stay safe and healthy!

Happy Birthday to Dorothy Day!!

Huge shoutout to the parishioners at St. Rita Roman Catholic Church for their continued generosity!! Not only have they been consistent shelter volunteers over the years but they show up several times a week with donations for our bagged lunches and food bags. We are so grateful for the continued partnership we have with their church!!

Thank you Gates Presbyterian Church for your generous support each week!!

The need for permanent shelter is near and dear to our hearts at St. Joe's. We stand with the City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester, NY and Housing Justice for All in the call for a real eviction moratorium. No one should have to choose between paying rent, childcare, healthcare cost, and food. Take a few minutes to hear stories from a few tenants in our city facing eviction and follow the CWTU for more updates.

Today is not a good day for tenant rights. For the first time since the pandemic started, warrants of eviction are being served to six families in our city. Four of them are eligible to be carried out in just over two weeks. However, today is a good day to show our broken housing system just how serious we are when we say Rochester is an #EvictionFreeZone. Come join us in the fight to demand long term solutions for tenants, extend the eviction moratorium to protect our neighb...ors from being displaced, and guaranteeing heat & electricity for all as winter approaches. The extension of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act to January 1, 2021 does not prevent unjust evictions. We know of at least 4 Rochester residents that will face eviction as soon as October 16th. Thousands more are also still at risk of eviction, and are being forced to add fighting an undeserved court battle to their hardships due to the pandemic. As many as 62, 684 could also face utility shut offs after October 4th. This is unacceptable. We deserve stability in the midst of a public health crisis. Come out to show community support for our demands, and hear from local leaders about how current protections are inadequate, and how you can be involved in community eviction blockades and utility shut-off defense to make sure that housing, heat, and electricity are guaranteed for all during a public health emergency! We are meeting at 99 Exchange Blvd at 5PM. Bring a friend and wear a mask!

Thank you to all of the generous community members and churches who have faithfully supplied us with the items to keep our community fed. We have seen a major uptick in the number of people we serve each day through our bag lunches and our food bags. Your continued and faithful support is beyond appreciated. Here is an updated list of our most critical needs. Thank you all! Stay safe and healthy!

We continue to grateful for the opportunity to change the world, one bagged lunch at a time. As a community, we have made the decision that it's in the best interest of our guests and volunteers to continue to serve this way at least through the end of the year. Your continued support is critical for us to fulfill out mission of making a new world in the shell of the old. Here is an updated list of our most critical needs. Thank you all! Stay safe and healthy!

Shout out to all the tenants, community members, activists and organizations who came together yesterday to ensure housing justice is happening in our community... at our Eviction Resistance Kickoff. The extension to the moratorium is a temporary solution to this crisis. The #RochesterHousingJusticeAlliance demands that the NYS Legislature fully cancel rent and mortgages to make sure no one loses their home during this crisis. We stand in solidarity with the other members of RHJA! Rochester VOCAL-NY - Voices Of Community Activists & Leaders, City Roots Community Land Trust, Rochester Mutual Aid Network, Rochester DSA, Metro Justice, St. Joseph's House of Hospitality of Rochester, NY, REACH - Rochester Engaging in Action for the Chronically Homeless.

Thank you to the venders, shoppers, & volunteers of the Westside Farmers Market for their generous food and monetary donations to our house!Thank you to the venders, shoppers, & volunteers of the Westside Farmers Market for their generous food and monetary donations to our house!

We stand strong with our friends at the City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester, NY and the others in the Rochester Housing Justice Alliance in saying that this [event] "will let politicians, landlords, and anyone else who involved in the process of evicting people know: if you try to kick people in our community out of their homes, we will stop you." Join us tomorrow at 5PM in front of the court house!

We've been so grateful throughout this unique time that whenever a need has presented itself, the community has come through to help meet it. Although our day to day work looks so different, the heart behind what we do remains the same. This morning we are trusting in the generosity of our community and local churches to continue to help us meet needs. Below is an updated list of some of the gaps in our supplies. Bottled water Lunch meet Cheese... Jelly Toilet paper Paper towels Dish soap Mini bags of chips and cookies Apples, oranges, peaches etc Thank you to everyone for standing in solidarity as we work to build a new world in the shell of the old.

Millions of New Yorkers are without work making them unable to pay their rent as a result of the pandemic. New York State has created a temporary grant program ...to help help tenants who have fallen behind on rent. From July 16th till July 30th eligible tenants can apply for relief from the state. If you are applying to this program and having success reach out anklet us know. For more information, and to apply, please visit: https://hcr.ny.gov/RRP We know the true solution is to fully #CancelRent and call on the #NYSLegislature to stand with tenants not landlords.

We are now several months into the COVID-19 pandemic and are still working to feed and serve those most in need in our community. We plan to continue to serve bag lunches through the summer and re-evaluate for the fall. Below is an updated list of items for our bag lunches: Bottled water Sliced bread... Sandwich meats Sliced cheese Condiment packets (mayo and mustard) Individual serving size bags of chips/crackers/cookies Granola bars Fruit cups/applesauce Cheese sticks Carrot sticks/baby carrots Thank you for your support! Stay safe and healthy!

We stand with the City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester, NY as they resist evictions. Join them tomorrow to tell Governor Andrew Cuomo no one should be evicted during a global pandemic. #ResistEvictions

We need to get away from thinking of shelters as an alternative form of housing. What they are is a failure of policy. We have the ability to provide every person with safe, quality housing of their own, but right now we lack the political will. An essay by our House Coordinator, Jasmin Reggler, featured in the D&C about the impact of COVID-19 on the homeless community.