Opened in the summer of 2024, The Continental Safe Haven provides transitional housing for vulnerable street homeless individuals. The Continental is one of only a handful of purpose-built safe havens in New York City, and is among only a few that are fully accessible for clients with disabilities.
Safe Havens are “low-threshold” resources: they have fewer requirements, making them attractive to those who are reluctant to accept traditional shelter. There are no curfews and more privacy. A client can miss a night at the Safe Haven without losing his or her bed, as they would at a traditional shelter.
But fewer restrictions do not signal a hands-off approach. Safe Havens offer intensive case management, along with mental health and substance abuse assistance, with the ultimate goal of moving each client into permanent housing. Safe Havens are, thus, a crucial resource to enable the most entrenched chronically homeless, who have extreme reluctance to leave behind their unsheltered lives to accept help.
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