MISSION:
Our mission is
- to be a refuge of last resort during the coldest months of the year;
- to provide simple hospitality;
- a bed, and a meal on a daily basis; and
- to serve people who have no other shelter options in Albany County
- provide referral services from other service providers to our shelter guests to offer options for housing, employment, counseling, entitlements, addictions and health services.
It is our belief that all people, regardless of a person’s circumstances and behaviors have a human right to obtain shelter from deadly weather and dangerous conditions on the streets.
ABOUT US:
The Emergency Homeless Overflow Shelter is operated by the Capital Area Council of Churches (CACC) and is located at First Lutheran Church on Western Avenue in Albany. Established in 2001, the shelter is open from mid-November to April and houses up to nineteen men each night, including those impaired by drugs and alcohols as well as other struggles. Much the same as other homeless shelters across the nation, the shelter is always appreciative of donations.
The Overflow Shelter prides itself on being a home to the men of Albany who do not have one of their own. They have met, housed and cared for a number of individuals that would have otherwise spent the winter nights outdoors.
Other Albany homeless shelters turn or send away men suffering from drug and alcohol impairments, but the CACC’s shelter accepts these men. The shelter welcomes the men in the same as any other guest without alerting the police or hospitals beforehand. The environment that CACC offers to the men is very safe and comforting and problems rarely arise.
Even though the Emergency Homeless Overflow Shelter is the only shelter in Albany that accepts guests whom are impaired, they also open their doors to men in the community who are getting back on their feet. These are men who have are searching for or working jobs and appreciate the shelter for providing a home in the interim when they cannot afford one.