Homeless Shelter in Peekskill Unveils Plans to Renovate Facility
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The only homeless shelter in northern Westchester has unveiled plans to renovate the facility it has called home for the last 37 years in the City of Peekskill.
Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP), which operates the Jan Peek House at 200 North Water St., informed the Common Council during a meeting in December that it was planning several renovations to better serve its clientele.
“We’re hoping that with these improvements that we’ll be able to provide an environment that will better accommodate the clients,” said Joseph Thompson, an architect for CHHOP.
The Jan Peek shelter began in 1988 with the support of the Peekskill Area Pastors Association. Today, 40 percent of the residents are from Peekskill. The shelter is open seven days a week, 365 days of the year and offers case management, access to healthcare, education, behavioral services, employment assistance and independent living. It has a special permit for a maximum daily occupancy of 24. Clients can stay up to 30 days.
The planned building improvements would enable CCHOP to increase its daily occupancy to 28. A commercial cooking kitchen and an elevator would also be added as CCHOP is looking to provide its services on the first and second floors of the building. Currently, CCHOP only uses the second floor.
CCHOP is negotiating a 15-year lease with the owners of the building. Last year, it signed an interim two-year lease renewal.
At the same time, CHHOP reached a two-year agreement to continue distributing food twice a week with its Fred’s Pantry at St. Peters Church.
In 2021, Fred’s Pantry served almost 61,000 individuals—a 300 percent increase from the pre-COVID-19 pandemic, forcing it to expand its distribution to two days a week. Fred’s Pantry serves more than 400 people each week, 95 percent of which reside in Peekskill or Cortlandt.
In 2023, Jan Peek House provided shelter to 331 clients, including 56 veterans. CCHOP’s offsite housing programs, Turning Point and RISE, assisted 125 individuals.
Six years ago, CCHOP set its sights on moving to a building on Washington St., but later abandoned those plans following fierce public opposition.
CCHOP then put its hopes in the hands of developer Abraham Rosenberg, who proposed building a new 20,000-square-foot shelter at 1070 Lower South St., where a recycling company operated for many years. Those plans later fell through.
Common Council members were happy to hear about CCHOP’s latest plans to stay put.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Councilwoman Kathleen Talbot said. “I was very impressed with the look of it. These are good steps.”
“This is a great improvement and I’m glad to see that,” Councilman Ramon Fernandez said.
The council will be referring the project to the Planning Commission and a public hearing will be set for a required special permit.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
