This article was printed on Thursday, June 30, 2011 in the Erie Times News by Gerry Weiss

Community Shelter Services will not close its homeless shelter during the day.

The agency’s board of directors Wednesday decided a shortfall of about $300,000 to run the 24-hour shelter at 655 W. 16th St. would be offset in the nonprofit’s 2011-12 budget, officials said. The fiscal year begins Friday.

No jobs will be eliminated and no services will be cut, said Pat Herr, the agency’s associate director.

To offset the shortfall, the shelter will tap into the $2 million it was awarded in 2007 as part of the historic $100 million anonymous gift left to 46 local organizations, Herr said.

Cuts also will be made to the group’s marketing efforts and in other areas, Herr said. Community Shelter Services will likely sell a three-unit house on West 26th Street that it operates for low-income and homeless adults.

“Our board has stepped forward to commit support and continue our operations as they need to be,” Herr said.

The board Wednesday approved the shelter’s annual operating budget of about $1.6 million.

The nonprofit receives money from several sources, including the United Way of Erie County and the state through the county Department of Human Services.

The 24-hour shelter costs about $500,000 a year to operate, Herr said.

Community Shelter Services, established in 1973, has a staff of about 35 full- and part-time employees and serves several hundred people each year.

Published Tuesday, June 28th in the Erie Times News; by Gerry Weiss

Community Shelter Services officials will propose to the agency’s board of directors that its homeless shelter close during the day, possibly as early as Friday.

The nonprofit group, established in 1973, has a budget shortfall of about $300,000, and can no longer afford to keep the 24-hour shelter open during the day, officials said Monday.

Kathleen “Kitty” Cancilla, executive director, and Pat Herr, associate director, said they would make their proposal to the directors at a meeting Wednesday.

The 2011-12 fiscal year begins Friday, and Cancilla said the 70-bed shelter may need to close from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. beginning that day. It would continue to operate from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. seven days a week.

Five jobs, including three full-time positions, would be eliminated if the shelter, 655 W. 16th St., closed during the day, Cancilla said.

Three daily meals made at the shelter also would no longer be served.

Community donations to the agency are down by more than 40 percent this fiscal year, officials said. Herr said an anonymous gift of $240,000 in 2010 helped the agency limp through the year without service cuts like those he and Cancilla said are now necessary.

A partial closure of the shelter would strain the safety net for the Erie region’s growing homeless population. The area also has some of the highest poverty rates in Pennsylvania.

“The impact will be devastating. People will be out on the street, wandering around, looking for somewhere to go,” Cancilla said.

The 70-year-old executive director has worked at Community Shelter Services for the past 30 years.

“If we close now, and not in the freezing cold of winter, maybe by the grace of God someone will get a grip and help us meet our costs,” Cancilla said. “We’ll ask for more from every funding source we have, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to get it.”

The agency, which has an annual operating budget of about $1.6 million, receives money from a dozen sources, including area nonprofit groups, the United Way of Erie County, and state funding through the Erie County Department of Human Services.

Government money to Community Shelter Services has been slashed over the past few years, Cancilla said, and could soon be cut further, as lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the state budget this week.

The agency receives about $37,000 a year from the county’s Human Services Department. Cancilla and Herr said they’ll continue to pursue increased funding from the department’s Office of Mental Health in order to balance the spike in people they serve who suffer from mental illness.

Community Shelter Services in late 2007 was awarded $2 million as part of the historic $100 million anonymous gift left to 46 local organizations.

That endowment has earned about $300,000 in interest, Herr said. He added that $270,000 was used from the gift to pay off a line of credit the agency recently established.

Walter “Stormy” Deacon, president of the agency’s board of directors, said Community Shelter Services will not tap into the gift to pay for operational expenses of the daytime shelter.

“You don’t use the principal up. The feeling is, if we start using the money, it will be gone in six or seven years,” Deacon said on Monday. “You want to keep an endowment like that in place. We’re going to need to make it through by cutting costs somewhere.”

Deacon said the board of directors on Wednesday will aim to finalize their budget for the coming fiscal year. He said cuts will be made to the agency’s marketing efforts and elsewhere.

Deacon also said the nonprofit may sell a three-unit house on West 26th Street that it operates for low-income and homeless adults.

“The shelter has been having major fundraising issues since the recession hit,” Deacon said. “If you operate a homeless shelter where there’s increased needs and a decrease in funds, it comes to a point where you have to cut costs.”

Cancilla said she understands the board’s reluctance to draw from the $2 million gift’s principal and put the agency’s financial future at risk.

“But we need to take care of the people now,” she said. “It’s the way this agency has run for years.”

Herr said many of the Erie area’s nonprofit agencies “run this balancing act” when it comes to operating a social-service group during a recession when demand is up and funding is down.

“Our board is very concerned with that (anonymous donor) money lasting and augmenting what we bring in,” Herr said. “That money was set aside for a rainy day. Well guys, it’s raining.”

Mark your calendar for Monday, June 13th and plan to join us at the annual “Thunder on the Lake” Golf Classic at the beautiful Lake Shore Golf Course.  Proceeds benefit Community Shelter Services new Kids Fund!  This event is sponsored by Auto Racers for Kids Charities.  Price is $125/golfer, $500/foursome ~ 10 a.m. shotgun start.  To register, call Mike Langer, Pfeffer Insurance Company at (814)  870-3109 or for more information, visit AutoRacersforKids.org

Saturday, December 11, 2010.  Santa made a special delivery on Saturday bringing “wish list” toys to 75 homeless and needy children served by Community Shelter Services. The party was hosted by the Erie-Crawford County Central Labor Council Community Services Committee, which is comprised of dozens of Labor Organizations and Union members throughout the region. The Committee purchased and wrapped gifts for each child on our Angel Tree and every child also received a stocking. The group also provided lunch, cookies and drinks.  Parents and caregivers were also invited to select a gift for themselves from a variety of gifts - all provided compliments of the Committee.   “As I sat and watched the children open their gifts, I was delighted to hear such appreciation and joy,” says Community Shelter Services Executive Director, Kitty Cancilla.  “I heard one boy say this was his best Christmas ever.  It was simply a wonderful afternoon.”

All of us at Community Shelter Services would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Community Services Committee member Joshua Atkinson, who spent countless hours organizing and preparing this holiday party.  Thank you for a job well done, Santa Josh!

Funds Provide Exterior Renovations

to the Former Columbus School Building

Erie, Pa.  – Community Shelter Services, located in the heart of Erie’s Little Italy neighborhood, is proud to announce it is the recipient of a $100,000 Community Development Block Grant awarded from the City of Erie’s 2009 Community Development Block Grant budget.

The grant is earmarked for extensive exterior renovations to the former Columbus School building, erected in the 1920s, which is today home today to Community Shelter Services’ Emergency Shelter, Jane Earll Family Apartment units, and administrative staff.   The majority of the repair work will be used to correct the building’s brickwork which has crumbled and buckled due to age. 

Renovation work is being completed by Northwest Restoration of Erie.  Work began in mid October and is expected to be complete by the end of November, 2010. 

For more information on this Community Development Block Grant award, please contact Pat Herr directly at Community Shelter Services, (814) 455-4369 Ext. 26, or visit us at 655 West 16^th Street, Erie PA 16502.

Auto Express & “Santa Joe” to Sponsor Holiday Toy Drive 

 Auto Express has signed on as Community Shelter’s Community Partner for our 2010 holiday “Toy Drive for Homeless Children” to benefit CSS.  This toy drive will not only provide toys for all of the children who call our Shelter home, but hundreds of other families associated with the center who have been able to transfer out or transition into their new lives.  In the near future, you will start to see “toy collection sites” at select locations - including our main location at Auto Express on Wattsburg Road. And, in December, “Santa Joe” will make a special delivery to the shelter with all the collected toys!  Be sure to watch and listen for advertisements with ways you can donate and win! WICU-TV 12 and WSEE TV is this year’s media partner and their television studios on State Street will also accept your unwrapped toy donations.  Look for a complete listing of all collection sites in your October “Shelter in the Storm” ENewsletter, and if your business would like to be a collection location, Email FrontierAdvertising@gmail.com today!  Our goal is to provide a toy to every child in need this holiday season, so please be generous - and know there is no way you can put a price tag on a child’s smile!

Right now, more than 1 million school-aged children in America are homeless.  While the statistics are staggering, homelessness for children in grades Kindergarten through 12 has risen by 75 percent just in the past two years – the direct result of family job losses and mortgage foreclosures.  As you can imagine, being homeless takes a heavy toll on a child and the unfortunate lack of stability causes many children to fall behind in school.   Locally, Community Shelter Services’ “Back-to-School” Program is preparing to help a record number of children get a positive start as they to head back to the classroom this Fall.

You can be a part of the solution by sending a homeless or disadvantaged child the message that school is important.   Will you help by providing a boy or girl with the new clothing and school supplies they need to start the school year off right?  

This school year, Erie’s Community Shelter Services’ Back-to-School Program will help more than 200 students in grades Kindergarten through 12 who don’t have the financial resources to purchase new clothing, uniforms, shoes, backpacks and school supplies they need for academic success.

Please Support a Student Today

Sponsoring a student not only sends the message that school is important, but your gift will boost a disadvantaged child’s confidence and self-esteem the entire school year. 

·         Every dollar donated to our Back-to-School Program directly benefits a student in need

·         Every child helped by this program receives assistance from our homeless or emergency shelter, or lives in downtown Erie’s Little Italy neighborhood

·         The average back-to-school cost for one student is $200

How Can I Get Involved?

We invite you to support our Back-to-School Program in a way that best fits your ability

·         Purchase a gift card in the amount of $50   

·         Make a financial contribution by mail (655 West 16th Street, Erie PA 16502) or online at www.communityshelter.org

·         Fill a backpack with school supplies (please be sure to only purchase a sturdy backpack that will last a child the entire school year)

·         Personalize your donation by inviting your family or children to join in the shopping experience.   Call Georgian Turri at (814) 453-4613 and ask to directly sponsor a child on our waiting list

Please say “yes!” and help a student look good and feel great this school year by supporting Community Shelter Services’ Back-to-School Program.