A nonprofit agency has been contracted to provide Code Blue emergency housing in Jamestown.

The warming shelter is located at the Gateway Center, 31 Water St., and will be available through April 30. It will be run by Recovery Options Made Easy, a Gowanda-based agency that focuses on housing and community services.

“The Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene worked closely with the City of Jamestown and the county Department of Social Services to offer these services to the homeless,” the organization said in a news release. “Recovery Options provides a safe and supportive environment for Chautauqua County residents to sleep or warm up with well-trained peer staff. Recovery Options accepts walk-ins to the Code Blue Warming Center, or via referrals through Chautauqua County Department of Social Services or by law enforcement.”

Emergency housing is available to single men and women who do not qualify for temporary housing assistance in Chautauqua County as well as to homeless individuals when temperatures drop below 32 degrees.

The facility can accommodate 25 people during the cold weather period from Nov. 15 through April 30; individuals can seek shelter between 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.

The Gateway Center was utilized last year as an emergency homeless shelter. Operated by the Mental Health Association, the Water Street site had capacity for 20 guests and served both men and women.

The shelter’s location within the Gateway Center has proven beneficial with access to different organizations including St. Susan Center.

“We haven’t had any problems with that at all,” Steven Cobb, MHA executive director, said of the shelter in February 2023. “At this point, we have quite a few more men than we do females. Everyone has been really respectful. The staff who are here have done really well working with the participants to instill a sense of respect, so that they know the rules, so it’s worked really well.”

The city had been without an emergency shelter this winter with the closure of the MHA site and another at Joy Fellowship Church. The closures were officially announced last November during a meeting of the Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition.

For more information on Recovery Options’ Code Blue emergency shelter, call 716-550-6657.