ImmaCare Shelter Renovations Have Begun
Finally! After years of uncertainty, false starts, abandoned relocations and lots of work, we close the doors, literally, on our history as Immaculate Conception Shelter located in the former Immaculate Conception Church. When we rebranded as ImmaCare in 2015, we did so to emphasize our wider vision of wellness and community as part of a housing-focused mission. This week, we take a very concrete step in moving from a name change to a facility renovation to further reflect these values. Today we handed off our 125-year-old church structure to Montagno Construction to begin this physical transformation.
When completed in eight to ten months, we expect to have a building up to date with building codes, with better functionality and an ability to flex our services to best meet the needs of our community in the years to come. Though set to reopen with the same 75 -bed capacity we had prior to closing, we are also anticipating changes in services as the need may arise in partnership with our partners, especially the State of Connecticut Department of Housing and our Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network.
When I arrived as Executive Director nearly six years ago, I faced a daunting task of having to relocate our shelter. With the hard work of a team both in and outside our organization, we are instead renovating the church facility which gave our nonprofit organization its birth. With 125 years of deterioration on the rain-worn masonry and foot-worn stairs, we hope to prepare this aging structure for many more years of service to people in our community who are in housing crisis. Our church building, located in the federally recognized Frog Hollow Historic District, was built largely to serve that day’s immigrant community, mostly Irish and often rejected by the established community of the late 1800s. Architect Michael O’Donohue designed the Immaculate Conception Church, as well as other Hartford churches, and was also an Irish immigrant. When the church closed in 2000, it served a mostly Latino population, including many who came here from Puerto Rico. Though no longer a house of worship, our shelter facility will continue to serve some of today’s people rejected because of mental illness, substance abuse, immigration status and other barriers to stable housing.
I pray that the parishioners of the late 1800s who built this church for the people of the Archdiocese of Hartford, look on us with kindness as we — staff, board of directors, volunteers and funders — attempt, in our humble way, to continue through this building to instill a message of caring, compassion and love which Christians, Muslims, Jews and all other faiths and people of good will embrace.
-Lou Gilbert, Executive Director
