WHAM: City investment expands homeless, family services offered at Central Library of Rochester

WHAM

Rochester, N.Y. — New city investments will expand services offered at the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County.

The funding will go toward supporting homeless families and individuals in need who come to the library. Services provided will include health care, legal and housing assistance, and social services.

"The Central Library, they are a refuge for many people" said Rochester Mayor Malik Evans. "Today, we are taking a major step forward to make it even easier and more beneficial for them to continue be a refuge for people to get access to resources, to get access to services, to be connected with people that can help them."

The city also set aside money in the budget for formal contracts with M.C. Collaborative and Person Centered Housing Operations, to allow them to continue providing services at the Central Library. Evans said he's putting in a request to bring other agencies to the library to continue expanding services.

Evans said the library has become a popular spot in the downtown area for people in in need to come for shelter from the elements of the city.

"Because there is no Midtown for a long time now, the library is the one free place where people can come and spend most of their days," said Gabriel Pellegrino, manager of science, history & social sciences division at Central Library. "Really it's a place where everyone feels comfortable where they can come and have some enjoyment or get the services they need."

"We have books for sure, libraries will always have that, but we are so much more than that," said Patricia Uttaro, director of the Rochester Public Library system.

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