The Gathering Place set to close

TORRINGTON — An announcement the first week of February shocked the local community by stating that The Gathering Place, a drop-in resource center for homeless neighbors, is closing its doors once its building on Prospect Street in Torrington is sold.

Since 2014, The Gathering Place served 26 towns in Litchfield County under the auspices of New Beginnings of Northwest Hills — a 501(c)3 organization.

“The Gathering Place, as it was created by Nancy Cannavo, was innovative and it is admired as a model of what communities should have as a homeless drop-in center and we recognize its value,” said Julie Scharnberg, Vice President of Community Engagement at the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation. She explained, “The Gathering Place offers showers, laundry, mail services, a place to take a break and have a cup of coffee, to talk to someone and seek information and get connected to the Northwest CT Coordinated Access Network system. It is invaluable to the community and a critical resource to anyone who is unhoused or at risk to being unhoused. It will be a tremendous loss to the community if it ceases to operate.”

The catalyst to this sudden change is the creation of a new location for walk-in services at Trinity Church in Torrington.

Scharnberg continued, “Situated in downtown Torrington and co-located with both the soup kitchen and the cold weather overflow shelter which are both operated at Trinity Episcopal Church, this additional HUB location will ensure even more access to the services offered by a collective of providers. The expansion into Trinity will facilitate improved accessibility and coordination among, and between, the service providers while providing greater flexibility in the hours of service.”

Connecticut State Representative Jay Case, R-63, board member of New Beginnings, said that The Gathering Place, and the work of Nancy Cannavo, are of “crucial” importance.

Nancy Cannavo, licensed clinical psychiatric nurse for the homeless at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital for a quarter century, president/founder/director of the Gathering Place wants to continue her work for the many unhoused people who come through her doors on a daily basis. She needs folks to continue making donations to keep those doors open. Cannavo once said, “there are many reasons people experience homelessness. With coordinated support, people can get housed. Once housed, they do well.” Cannavo is determined to “stay open and serve the homeless.”

According to the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, “more than 33,000 people, including 13,000 children, experience homelessness over the course of a year in Connecticut.”

The numbers have increased by 13% in 2024. Scharnberg said, “As homelessness continues to increase, the demand for services increases and our region must continue to meet that increased demand.”

David Rich is the CEO of the Housing Collective, a Bridgeport-based non-profit who mission is to “harness the power of collective impact to provide equitable access to housing and ensure housing stability for all.”

When asked if homeless people who use the Gathering Place services currently were included in the discussions, Rich replied, “A collaborative decision to expand HUB’s walk-in services to Trinity Episcopal Church was made after many conversations with people who use these services, partners, and community members, including Mental Health CT, FISH, McCall Behavioral Health Network, New Opportunities, Inc., Northwest CT YMCA, Greenwoods Counseling & Referrals, Inc., NW Community Health Network of CT, Northwest CAN Co-Chair, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital/ Hartford Healthcare, and the Center for Human Development.