by Christina Lee The New Haven independent
Winter is almost here, and Janice Hart is — once again — ready to help.
Around this time each year, her car trunk is stuffed with supplies for her volunteer work. Since 2005, Hart, who lives in Hamden, has been providing home-cooked meals to New Haven’s warming centers at least four times a week, she said.
Spending nearly four hours a day in the kitchen, Hart prepares large aluminum trays of rice and beans, cabbage, and curry chicken, large enough to serve 100 people — all on her own.
“It’s something I look forward to. It’s just my own instinct to help,” Hart told the Independent. “It’s second nature to me.”
Each winter, Hart’s volunteer work supports warming centers in the effort to provide a safe and warm place for unhoused New Haveners to escape the cold.
This year, two warming centers began operations this past weekend.
In the Mill River district, there is the 180 Center, located at 438 East St., and in the Dixwell neighborhood, there is the Varick Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, located at 242 Dixwell Avenue.
In a statement released on Thursday, Mayor Justin Elicker announced that the centers will operate on “a walk-in basis, 7 days a week, generally between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., with extended hours during extreme weather.”
Hart is among the many volunteers who step up to provide food each night at the Varick Memorial warming center. According to Shellina Toure, director of programming at Varick Memorial, the center also receives help from community organizations like Bridges of Hope, the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Haven’s Harvest, and Yale student volunteers. This year, the groups Jamaican Women’s Group and Pillars of Promise are also set to support the center.
Varick’s warming center has a capacity for 35 people, and set up for its first night of the season on Sunday. The center plans to stay open until April 15.
Similar to Varick, the 180 Center has also been preparing to welcome those who need shelter from the cold. They also opened on Sunday. The center will be operating at a capacity of 33 people, where visitors are offered a 2-inch thick yoga mat to sleep on, and a hot dinner served each night. When the center reaches capacity, warming center supervisor Teddy Natter will refer them to another warming center.
Although its warming center is open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., the 180 Center continues to stay open for outreach. When the mats come off in the morning, the center then prepares to serve breakfast and lunch.
The food at the 180 Center, like at Varick, is provided by local food pantries, Vox church, and Natter himself.
For two of the nights, Natter spends around three hours cooking food at his home and brings it into the center. He typically prepares a complete meal consisting of a meat, vegetable, starch, and some bread and butter.
The center’s operations, according to Natter, would not be possible without the financial support of United Health. He described the financial contribution as a “considerable” amount that allows the center to buy supplies like the sleeping mats.
Natter explained that for anyone interested in donating to the 180 Center, or supporting the warming centers’ operation, the center “could always use donations of hats, gloves, socks, and anything hygiene oriented.”
The 180 Center’s warming center is now in its fourth year of operation. Overseeing the centers’ night-to-night operations, Natter is driven by his empathy.
Natter recalled that there was a time when he was “right alongside them,” before he was able to better his life.
“I want people to have more opportunities to succeed,” Natter said.
Inside the 180 Center.