Shirley Chisholm Center and Unsung Heroes

Nestled in Park Slope, Brooklyn is the Shirley Chisholm Shelter, where staff members are committed to do anything to ensure the safety of homeless youth and their families during the pandemic, even if that means shelter staff work around the clock.

Schooling in the Time of COVID-19

The Shirley Chisholm Shelter is operated by Win, a nonprofit with the mission of providing secure housing to those in need with an emphasis on women and children. Now, the Chisholm Shelter and other Win affiliates are focused on safe remote learning. The Department of Education provides childcare for families participating in a “blended” school week- meaning the students spend three days at home and two days at school. This structure is completely unrealistic for families experiencing homelessness. Most families in the Chisholm Shelter opted out of in-person schooling and are lucky enough to have the support of shelter staff. Without the hard work of women at the shelter, resources for underprivileged New Yorkes like Shirley Chisholm could not continue day-to-day operations. 

Named after the first Black Woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, the Shirley Chisholm Shelter honors its namesake and fights to ensure the children they service can access the resources required to not fall behind in the classroom. A never-ending cycle of fundraising occurs at Win to ensure the students at the Chisholm Shelter can utilize laptops, tablets, headphones, and other necessary resources to successfully partake in remote learning. Christine Quinn, the CEO of Win, scolded Mayor Bill De Blasio and the Mayor’s office for subpar communication and inadequate plans of action. In a public response to De Blasio’s promise to place WiFi in every shelter, Quinn explained that the “children in our shelters desperately need assistance with remote learning and have never received the tools they need to succeed from Mayor Bill de Blasio or the NYC Department of Education,” and are privately funding the resources their families require. 

Staff Numbers Are Dwindling At Shelters Across the City

The work of shelter staff is extremely undervalued, yet the women who make up the majority of this workforce are overworked. At the Chisholm Shelter, over 140 families are provided with shelter and supported through career services as well as school programming. Director of children’s services at the Chisholm Center Tiffany Malcousu, in an interview with Buzzfeed, explained that she helps more families navigate the confusing platforms that children are expected to use in remote learning. Malcouso’s only knowledge about the platforms are through what she receives as a parent of her own child in the school system. The DOE tends to run into issues trying to contact unhoused families, yet there is no evidence that representatives of the DOE spend any time at shelters completing outreach. Malcousu and her staff are forced to problem solve on the spot or in-network because the city fails time and time again to provide them with answers or support. “There’s so many obstacles and challenges and scenarios that we present to them, and yet we get no solutions or answers yet,” she said in reference to the Department of Education’s failure to communicate with unhoused families or attempt to support the Win-affiliated Chisholm Shelter. 

The work of women at this shelter is unparalleled, and the opening of the shelter is a result of the increased need of social programs in New York City to combat the cyclical nature of poverty and homelessness. Without the support of their communities and fundraisers, the Shirley Chisholm Shelter would be unable to operate efficiently in support of the 140 families it currently services. 

SUPPORT THE WORK OF WIN AND THE SHIRLEY CHISHOLM SHELTER

In order to keep the Win shelters operating at full capacity, all hands are needed on deck. The Chisholm Shelter and other Win-operated services run on volunteer power and donations of any kind. Whether you wish to make a monetary donation, an in-kind donation, or simply only have spare time to volunteer— these shelters will accept it all. Ending homelessness is not just about providing homes, it is about accessibility to resources and fighting for strong social policy that protects our most vulnerable populations.

To volunteer: https://winnyc.org/volunteer/

To make a monetary donation: https://support.winnyc.org/give/178036/#!/donation/checkout

To make an in-kind donation: https://winnyc.org/donation-and-drive/