Might this one day be built at 924 Grand? Youth Continuum's Tim Maguire (right), with city Homeless Services Director Velma George: Looking to create "a one-stop shop for unhoused youth." A proposal for a peer-led youth homeless shelter in Wooster Square is back on the table — with a higher price tag and a new design prioritizing privacy and public health.The Board of Alders Community Development committee unanimously voted on Nov. 20 to spend $500,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding on a long-in-the-works plan for Youth Continuum to relocate its 12 shelter beds to 924 Grand Ave., where it will also operate a warming center and offer walk-in support for young adults under one roof.The project’s overall cost has risen over the years from an estimated $4.5 million in 2019 to nearly $7.5 million today. Everything from nonprofit leadership turnovers to a pandemic-era redesign to the rising cost of steel have pushed out the construction date, and pushed up the prices, for this long-awaited shelter. Even if the city’s $500,000 in ARPA funds come through, the project still has to close an additional financing gap of nearly $900,000.The ARPA funding — a portion of federal pandemic relief aid allocated to the city, which must be obligated by the end of 2024 — is now under review by the full Board of Alders for a final approval. The idea for the shelter originally arose in 2017, when the Cambridge-based organization Y2Y (which operates a youth shelter in collaboration with Harvard students) decided to expand to New Haven in partnership with Yale students. The organization joined forces with Youth Continuum to officially propose the new shelter for young adults, operated by student volunteers around the same age, in 2018. The City Plan Commission approved the project in 2019.Since then, both Youth Continuum and Y2Y experienced some leadership turnover; most recently, Tim Maguire was appointed as Youth Continuum’s executive director, about one year after the unexpected death of his predecessor, Michael Moynihan. Maguire attributed the delay in the shelter’s construction largely to pandemic-related complications. According to Maguire, the Connecticut Department of Housing — one of the project’s funders — required Youth Continuum to redesign the shelter to be more conducive to social distancing. Meanwhile, the cost of construction dramatically rose due to supply-chain challenges, especially related to the cost of steel.The $500,000 allocation currently before the Board of Alders would join over $6 million already allocated to the project, including state and federal funds as well as $1.2 million from private donors. The organization still needs about $875,000, on top of the grant before the Board of Alders, to fully fund construction; it’s applied for a state Community Investment Fund Grant to cover that gap. The final project is estimated to cost about $7.5 million — a sharp uptick from the cost projections for a version of the proposal from 2020, which amounted at the time to $4.5 million. In addition to a broad rise in construction costs, Maguire attributed the rise in projected renovation costs to a redesign of the project mandated by the state in response to the pandemic.Construction is expected to take one year to complete. The Glendower Group, Christopher Williams Architects, and Montagno Construction are partners in the development.Youth Continuum ED: "The Need Is There"A proposed courtyard. Funding sources as outlined in Youth Continuum's presentation to alders. Youth Continuum currently offers 12 overnight shelter beds for 18 to 24-year-olds from 4:30 p.m. until 8 a.m. in a house in West Hills. The organization’s plan is to relocate those beds to the Wooster Square location once construction is finished, and then to determine how to repurpose the West Hills property. Also at the Grand Avenue building, the organization will continue to offer drop-in resources — including food, laundry, a shower, computers, case management, and human trafficking-specific support — as well as an overnight walk-in warming center.According to Maguire, the renovated shelter will continue to close during the day, but no clients will be forced outside as ​“all of the daytime resources of the drop in center are immediately accessible downstairs.”“The need is there,” Maguire said, noting that in his experience, young people often decline to accept shelter beds until space opens up at a shelter designated for people around their age: ​“Young people often wait to feel safer among their peers.”There are 46 unhoused people under the age of 24 who have interacted with the Greater New Haven Coordinated Access Network, according to city spokesperson Lenny Speiller.For many young clients, ​“the reasons why they were experiencing homelessness or got kicked out or lost jobs are widely different from older adults,” Maguire said. Many Youth Continuum clients have been kicked out of their parents’ homes, Maguire said. Some are forced out after coming out as LGBTQIA+ to their family, or leave because they fear the repercussions of coming out. Some are told to leave when their parents take the side of a new romantic partner. Some kids move out on their own in order to seek independence, but they find that ​“the job market and rental prices can be tough,” Maguire said.In a statement on behalf of the city, Speiller wrote, ​“Unhoused youth are among the most vulnerable members of our community, and as a city we want to ensure young people experiencing homelessness have a safe and caring environment to receive the services and supports they need during these traumatic experiences.” The proposed expansion ​“creates something close to a one-stop shop for unhoused youth.”"Pods" Dropped; Windows, Greenspace AddedCommunity Development Committee alders. While previous plans had involved 20 enclosed ​“pod”-like beds in a congregate space, the new design would consist of individual and double rooms. ​“Being able to still afford that level of privacy to young people was important,” said Maguire.The new plans still propose building a second floor atop Youth Continuum’s offices at 924 Grand Ave. Those temporary beds would accommodate clients between the ages of 18 and 24 who secure a spot for up to two months by calling 2 – 1‑1.Additionally, Youth Continuum is proposing a renovation of the basement to make space for a youth-specific warming center, which would accept 12 people overnight on a walk-in basis. The organization piloted such a warming center — the state’s only walk-in option specifically for younger unhoused people — last winter; according to Maguire, about two dozen people in total used the warming center over the course of a few weeks.The floor plans also include a commercial kitchen, a staff lounge, an outdoor patio, and numerous flexible spaces that could be used for relaxation, communal eating, and social services such as job training.And the new design incorporates more windows and greenspace, an addition that Maguire said was critical: ​“I spent many years working in that building. It’s very, very dark.”The renovation would nearly triple the building’s footprint, from 4,500 square feet to more than 13,000 square feet.At the alders’ November Community Development Committee meeting, alders universally praised the concept.Newhallville Alder Brittiany Mabery-Niblack expressed support for ​“more opportunities for our youth to use more services.”After the committee’s unanimous vote of support, Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola approached Maguire. ​“Try to get jobs from youth contractors!” he said.The future second floor of the future 924 Grand.