Joanna Orland’s March 8 column in The Daily Orange says: “Two shelters in Syracuse were even shut down for operating without state certification.” Nevertheless, the article referred to in the link as the source for this claim says that the two shelters in question, the Rescue Mission and Catholic Charities Men’s Shelter, were cited, not shut down, by the New York State Office of the Comptroller. Furthermore, they were cited not for operating without state certification, but for unrelated safety violations. In addition, the Rescue Mission homeless shelters are already certified by the state, and the Catholic Charities homeless shelter will get its certification this year, Mike Sullivan, senior administrator of the facility, told the audience at an event on homelessness sponsored by the Office of Students Affairs of the State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, held on March 16.

Miguel Balbuena
Syracuse, New York