It would seem not impossible for a county of more than 180,000 people to find more appropriate shelter for the 458 households in Ulster County at last count housed in local shelters and motels. But it’s not easy. The lion’s share of the unhoused have been living in those facilities for more than two years.
In the past half-year, two long-planned supportive housing projects in Ulster County each received $15 million in state funding. One is the $121-million, 289-bed, 164-unit Pennrose and Family of Woodstock planned facility on Golden Hill, awarded its $15 million in December. The other, announced just last week, is the former Quality Inn west of the Kingston city line at which RUPCO will spend $42.7 million to create 134 beds in 83 units of housing.
These are not the apartments in urban settings run by local housing authorities in which 900,000 households throughout the nation live (there are 177,000 in New York City alone). Using terms like community and campus to describe themselves, the two local state-supported developments boast numerous amenities such as childcare, common spaces, recreational facilities, visiting service professionals (“robust onsite case-management services” for those with special needs), 24-7 staff monitors, adjacent commercial space, the latest in environmental technology, and access to transportation. Contractual partnerships with local organizations are also promised.
Such thoughtful social fabric-weaving does not come without a price, which for the two projects combined comes to $382,000 per bed (and about $640,000 per housing unit) if everything comes in at the estimated bid prices. The soaring costs of construction will make that accomplishment difficult to achieve.
According to the New York State Association of Realtors, the median purchase price of a single-family Ulster County home in the first quarter of 2024 was $406,000 (up from $225,000 five years ago).
Even with a replenishable $15-million housing fund, Ulster County government alone cannot do more than nibble away at the edges of the enormity of local housing needs. Under the present governmental system, skillful grantswriting and political clout are needed to supplement local resources.
Ulster County seems to have decided that larger facilities where onsite services can be provided are usually more supportive to the clientele than smaller facilities whose inhabitants are more isolated from services.
Alas, the process requires patience. Months and then years pass without shovels breaking ground. New categories of need become more urgent, Housing is not the sole human right that requires protection.
For now, however, there are reasons to rejoice. Thirty million additional state dollars have filled the funding gap of two important projects. Look for photos of lines of officials wielding shiny new shovels at ribbon-cuttings.
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