Most construction projects begin with a groundbreaking ceremony, but inside Niagara Gospel Mission on Portage Road in Niagara Falls on Friday, there was a ceremony to celebrate the filling of ground where an emergency shelter for women is being constructed.
“We're standing on the old pool in the YMCA. So, this is about the closest any of us will get to walking on water,” quipped John Cooper, executive director of Niagara Gospel Mission, which is located in the former Niagara Falls YMCA building.
Signs identifying water depths could still be seen on a wall that featured a mural of swimming fish. But the pool itself was filled with an estimated 450 tons of stone, with heating tubes placed atop the stones then covered with a cement floor. Completed work on the shelter site also included demolition and asbestos removal.
When the shelter is opened — scheduled for June 2027 — 17 beds will be available to women in need. Cooper said the need is great, citing a 2023 survey that found 109 women per month in Niagara County were denied services due to a lack of service availability.
“So what we want to do is we want to step into this space and provide hope for a lot of the ladies who are out there who are in desperate need right now,” he said. “They're being trafficked, they're being abused, they're being addicted, they're being prostituted. That's kind of the reality, unfortunately, of a lot of the women out there right now, and the women who come to us currently for our community services that we have, or they're trying to stay as long as they can before they go back on the street.”
The project, estimated to cost $6 million, is covered entirely by private funds, Cooper said. He added that, when finished, the shelter will include a private, secured alternate entrance.
Mayor Robert Restaino said he can enjoy making announcements about new hotels or redevelopment within the city, but this project is important to the fabric of the community.
“Every community will struggle with the kinds of things that the Gospel Mission deals with day to day, and so it's important that expanding their vision, expanding their mission to include women, I think, obviously, is long overdue. Not only in Niagara Falls but throughout Niagara County,” Restaino said.
Mission leaders hope when the women’s shelter is open it will help provide some relief to nearby Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, where many homeless individuals are going to receive care or get out of the cold.
Niagara Gospel Mission is also working with the YMCA to program sports activities for children in the still-existing gymnasium.
The women seeking shelter in this facility will be provided access to programs currently being offered to the men served there.
“They'll be able to go to classes. They'll be able to learn skills. They'll be able to actually take ownership of places around the Mission and do that kind of stuff, and really start to rebuild their lives,” Cooper said. “That way when they do leave here, they'll be not only in a better situation physically, but also emotionally and spiritually as well.”
