Visitors to The Open Hearth men’s shelter in Hartford’s South End typically get the full tour, meeting residents and staff and stopping by the cafeteria, laundry and job center.
“I wanted people to come in to meet our clients, kind of dispel the myth of what a man is who is experiencing homelessness,” said Marilyn Rossetti, executive director of The Open Hearth. “They see the work we do first-hand — there’s nothing like that.”
Now Rossetti worries that pandemic restrictions will keep her indefinitely from promoting in-person the work of The Open Hearth, which has been offering services to men experiencing homelessness in Hartford since 1884.