Danbury Motel Could Become Homeless Shelter By End of the Month

It's actually been in the works for a while, but a Danbury Motel is about to become the area's newest homeless shelter.

The Super 8 Motel has been a refuge for the homeless since the start of the pandemic. A small portion of the motel has been able to accommodate some of the homeless in Danbury during the last year, but now, if a deal goes through, the entire motel will be used to permanently house the local homeless population.

Get our free mobile app

Now it looks like the State of Connecticut, the City of Danbury, and the Pacific House, a nonprofit homeless service out of Stamford that runs homeless services in other parts of the state, are very close to closing on purchasing the motel and making the homeless shelter a reality, and it all could go down by the end of the month.

Newstimes.com is reporting that Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo is looking forward to seeing this transition of the motel into a full time homeless shelter.

We’re very excited about it, very excited to have that plan move forward.

Having Pacific House behind this deal will make it possible to offer special programs for the city and the residents of the motel. Plus even better news, a federal grant given through the State of Connecticut will actually pay for the cost of the motel.

Staffing costs for the motel will be covered by a state grant the city received, with any other cost being absorbed, and the city reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

City of Danbury acting Health Director Kara Prunty said there were currently 72 people already staying at the motel, but that number will definitely increase when the city finally takes full control of the motel.