Mayor Muriel Bowser today celebrated the opening of the brand-new 801 East Men’s Shelter on the St. Elizabeths campus in Ward 8 — a milestone in the District’s efforts to overhaul services for individuals experiencing homelessness.
The Bowser administration previously closed the notorious family shelter at DC General, replacing the beds there with short-term housing facilities spread out across the city. But this marks the first major shelter redevelopment project for individuals under Bowser’s Homeward DC strategic plan.
At a ribbon-cutting, Bowser noted that the 88,000-square-foot shelter was built from the ground up, making it easier to design the project “with intention.” There’s an on-site day center, and there’s a separate wing for men who have jobs in view of their different needs. Officials noted that people with lived experience had input on architectural and design decisions, which include the presence of bedside outlets to charge cellphones.
“This new shelter recognizes that not every person’s experience with homelessness is the same and it is designed to meet men where they are when they walk through the door,” Bowser said in a statement. “I am grateful for all the teams, service providers, and residents who came together to bring the vision for this shelter to life, and together, I know we will achieve what we set out to do: make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.”
Department of Human Services Laura Zeilinger stressed that the new facility — with “tons of natural light” and its other welcoming physical features — will enable program improvements, such as the introduction of a culinary training program. “It’s not just the container that’s changing — it’s the system,” she said.
Department of General Services Director Keith Anderson noted that 280 DC residents worked on the project, some of whom were themselves experiencing homelessness. Members of the Goodfellas Team, who had been living at the old 801 East Men’s Shelter, received workforce training along with jobs to help build the new shelter. Several are now working on a DGS project to modernize an elementary school in Ward 7, Anderson said.
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