Homeless Shelter

For two months, a church off Kennedy St has taken in 20 homeless people a night, giving them food, showers, and a bed. But Sunday night, that will end, as the shelter's temporary permit expires.

City Councilor Francis H. Duehay '55, who has been sympathetic to the efforts, explained yesterday that "the city does not have funds to operate shelters."

The warm weather will force the closing of other shelters as well. On May 1, the state's two largest shelters will close, leaving 570 people without a place to stay.

Shelter director Stewart Guernsey, a first-year Divinity School student, yesterday lamented the closing. He acknowledged that the homeless situation was worse "during the winter in terms of people freezing," but he added that "it is still critical". He noted that "Crime picks up in good weather."

The University Lutheran Church, located within a block of four River Houses, opened its doors to the homeless in mid-February, despite the fact that they violated zoning and health ordinances. City officials acknowledged the critical need for the shelter, and granted an exemption through the winter months.

The center's closing will put extra pressure on Cambridge's only other shelter for the homeless. Mary A. Kelley, administrative assistant at Shelter, Inc., said yesterday. "There isn't anything we can do to compensate fur its closing," she added.

During the shelter's operation Harvard Divinity School students made up about 50 percent of the volunteer staff, while undergraduates were another 25 percent. The students help out by serving food, cleaning up, and "just trying to break down communication harriers." Guernsey said.

Now that several shelters are closing Guernsey will look to the public sector for a solution to the crisis. "We will try to do some educating and lobbying aimed at city and state officials because they have the resources. "He criticized the government's fiscal priorities nothing that "what it cost to build one Trident submarine would run our shelter for 166,000 years."