A Warm Place

South Fork winters blend gently into spring, so much so that it can be hard to tell the two seasons apart as they transition. Despite the sunny days and moderate afternoon temperatures in the early days of April, on four days this month, the lows reached into the 30s. As recently as Sunday, it was near freezing in Hampton Bays at night.

Those are not abstract numbers for men and women who were staying indoors just two weeks ago, thanks to Maureen’s Haven, a Riverhead-based organization that offers a free seven-night-a-week winter emergency overnight shelter program from November 1 to March 31. The shelter in Hampton Bays, at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, was one of 17 houses of worship that fed and housed people, offering them a chance for a safe, warm, dignified place to sleep.

On April 1, they were on their own again. For many, that meant sleeping outdoors, or in cars, or to hope and pray that other housing assistance is available through Suffolk County.

It’s hard to imagine a world without Maureen’s Haven and the efforts of its many volunteers and host houses of worship. Because the realities of who relies on this charitable effort are eye-opening. Many of the “guests” have jobs, but the challenges of finding a stable place to live anywhere in Suffolk County are confounding. Others fall through the cracks of other assistance programs, finding them too costly for someone living on an economic razor’s edge, or unreliable, or unsafe. Some get regular disability checks, or Social Security, but it’s simply not enough.

The pandemic worsened the problems — Maureen’s Haven officials estimate the number of homeless people seeking help on the East End has more than doubled as a result — and the typical causes of homelessness now include skyrocketing rents and housing opportunities snatched away, gone to a higher bidder. “Down on their luck” means something much more expansive these days. Maureen’s Haven has tried its best to keep up, but the task isn’t getting any easier.

As for the importance of the service, one of the women who spent that last chilly night indoors on March 31, Tiarra, who is 23, summed it up best: “This has been so good for us, it’s just what we need,” she said. “It’s what a lot of people need. It gives you a chance.” The realities of the situation aren’t lost on Dan O’Shea, the executive director of Maureen’s Haven: “We’re exhausted, but then you wake up and you know you have people out there who are going to be in difficult situations right off the bat.”

It’s hard to extract a message from all this, except that people simply searching for a warm place, in every definition of the word “warm,” should be able to find one. A community must make it a priority to support those who address that need, and to recognize the economic and societal pressures that have created this condition, and work hard to fix it. People’s lives truly are at stake, and if that thought ever eludes us, just check the weather forecast and take a good look around.