AWARENESS POST: Gov Rules May force NY Religious Shelters to Shut down

Interesting article from NY Times .. Full article

As temperatures outside were dropping from icy to arctic early Monday evening, volunteers inside the Friends Meeting House off East 15th Street prepared their gym for homeless guests, following a routine that has taken place nightly for more than 25 years.

They arranged green cots in neat lines on the polished wood floor, placed cold cuts and leftover lasagna on pink cloth-covered tables, and set out 14 chairs — 12 for the homeless, 2 for volunteers who share the communal meal, then sleep in the next room.

But these lovingly preserved rituals may soon come to an end because of a pending change in city policy in which shelters that contract with the Department of Homeless Services to provide beds would be required to provide hot dinners and transportation, things that the Friends shelter and many of the others do not have the staff to handle.