It’s been a crisp spring, but shelters across New York state are closing their doors in anticipation of warmer weather, leaving many experiencing homelessness without an outlet for relief.

“You just never know how it’s going to be,” said Patrick McCarthy. “I got a tent, I have my sleeping bag and hope not to be woken up in the middle of the night by anything."

Right now, McCarthy is experiencing homelessness in Albany.

“I was working for a while, my apartment got sold and I quit my job at the same time to get a different one. It didn’t pan out,” he explained. “So, it was one of those situations and at first I just kind of figured everything was going to be fine, but it wasn’t.”

What You Need To Know

  • According to a report from the Office of the New York State Comptroller, there are more than 158,000 people experiencing homelessness in the state

  • The report shows a growing number of families and children experiencing homelessness in 2024

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers are considering a $250M Housing Access Voucher Program amid budget negotiations

McCarthy is one of more than 158,000 others across the state, according to the Office of the New York State Comptroller, which also reports an increasing number of homeless families and children.

“Some folks are homeless today,” said Rev. Joe Peparone of National Union of the Homeless. “A whole lot of other folks can be tomorrow.”

The advocacy group hosted a picnic in Albany Thursday, hours after a popular shelter closed its doors for the winter.

“Weather can change, everybody knows the Capital Region at this time of year,” said Adam Shekerjian, a former homeless veteran. “It can rain, it can sleet.”

The group would like to see expanded access to shelters year-round.

“The system is broken,” Peparone said. “The system that has people in shelters to begin with, when we have some many vacant homes that is dependent on both government and private funding separately, like what are we doing?”

They’re also calling on state leaders to embrace a hotly debated $250 million Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP).

“I know it’s a drop in the bucket of what we need to spend to help people out,” Shekerjian said. “But a drop in the bucket is better than nothing in the bucket.”

In the meantime, McCarthy says he’s in the process of getting things back on track with a sobering thought in mind.

“There is a good chance that a lot of the people we’ve known over the winter, we may never see them ever again, to bad circumstances,” he said.

The Democratic-controlled state Legislature backed a HAVP for the state budget, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has pushed back on the idea to avoid giving federal lawmakers an excuse to cut funding for housing programs. The state budget is still being negotiated in Albany.