HAMILTON — After more than three decades of providing housing for homeless men, the Presby House will close its doors this spring.
The shelter located behind the Presbyterian Church on South Front Street will close April 30 because of insurance liability costs, officials said.
“We feel bad about the men (who will have to move) but we have to look at the other programs we have,” said Sherry Webb, director of program and administration of the church for the Presbyterian Church that operates the Presby House.
The shelter opened 34 years ago as an alternative to sleeping on the streets or for those men who passed through Hamilton and needed a room for the night. Located in the former Marvin Hotel, the Presby House in downtown Hamilton has 36 single rooms and a community bathroom. Of that total, only 20 rooms are currently occupied, officials said.
“It started in 1972 because we had the space and need for homeless people,” said Bob Cottrell, chairman of trustees of the church and member since 1959. “We had clients similar to YMCA’s program for transient people. Hundreds of men has passed through these doors.”
The decision to close the Presby House has been three years in the making.
The initial idea of the shelter was to house men who were estranged from their family or didn’t have a home. The house rule have banned women, smoking, alcohol and drugs in the room. The church charges $50 a week without a lease or contract to residents.
However, the needs among the men living at the shelter changed in that they also need help with social and mental health services.
“The change happened over the years with social needs,” said Webb, who grew up in the church. “For the last three years, someone comes here in need of a program to help them with social services. They need a hand up and a hand out. We’re not equipped for to do to that.”
Church officials have met with their insurance company to discuss liability issues. Among the conflicts they discovered was having children’s services such as day care, morning and after-school programs on the same property as the church and the men’s shelter.
They were told the shelter would have to be renovated from individual rooms to an open space and have an overnight supervisor on duty. The day care would need to be at separate site, Webb and Cottrell said.
“We’ve had to call the police because of disturbances to residents. It doesn’t happen on a daily basis, but occasionally,” Cottrell said. “It became more and more complicated as we got into it.”
The last straw for church officials to close the shelter came when they would have to renovate the 100-year-old building to be compliant with the insurance company.
Webb said they’ve already announced the closing of the shelter to residents and have been helping them relocate.
“Some took it upon themselves to find other living arrangements,” she said. “Others said they didn’t know what they were going to do.”
Contact Carmen Hubbard at (513) 820-2180, or e-mail her at chubbard@coxohio.com.