Steven is wearing a forest green, pullover sweater and dark denim, loose-fitting jeans. He s its near a round wooden table, glancing from the village streets beyond the double doors in front of him to his hands and then to the men sitting around him.He is 27 years old and has been member of the Bloods gang since 1998. He has been recently paroled from jail after a five-year conviction on burglary charges. Prior to his time in jail, he said slept outdoors. He didn’t want the other guests to hear details, so he scribbled on paper that he has slept in the bathroom of a Checker’s, a fast food restaurant, in the entrance of a Pathmark supermarket and in a friend’s backyard.
Tonight, Steven is sleeping at Pax Christi Hospitality Center, a men’s emergency housing shelter in uptown Port Jefferson, adjacent to Long Island Railroad station.
Pax Christi Hospitality Center is the only men’s homeless shelter in Suffolk County. It’s open 24 hours, 7 days a week for those 16 and older who are in need of emergency housing. The men come for a variety of reasons: some have been paroled from prison, others have their lost apartments and have been evicted from their homes, some are battling drug or alcohol addictions and a growing number have lost their jobs.
Typically, “guests,” as the staff calls the men who stay in the shelter, remain in Pax Christi for 48 hours before they either move to longer-term housing programs or sober houses. The only cases in which the center houses men on a longer basis is if they have mental health issues. The center tries to get these individuals housing where their health conditions can be better cared for.
“Every day is a surprise,” said Kathleen Martin, a counselor at the shelter.
