SARATOGA SPRINGS - Michael Finocchi, the executive director of the Shelters of Saratoga, has resigned.
Cynthia Harrington, associate executive director, said that Finocchi stepped down about two weeks ago after four years with the city's homeless shelter.
"He left for personal reasons," said Harrington, who would not be specific. "At this point, anything that would have gone to him is coming to me. I don't know what the plans are to replace him."
Reached by phone, Finocchi declined to comment.
Marcy Dreimiller, the shelter's board president, did not return a Times Union phone call inquiring about plans to appoint a new leader in the wake of Finocchi's departure.
Finocchi spent the last 20 years working to shelter and provide services to the homeless. Before joining the Saratoga Springs organization, he was the site manager for Troy's Catholic Charities homeless shelter, St. Peters, a 52 beds residence for two years. Then he worked for 10 years as a residence director at the Schenectady YMCA where he oversaw 188 beds.
Since heading the staff at the Shelters of Saratoga, Finocchi has centered much of his efforts on building a permanent Code Blue shelter, the winter haven for the homeless which is open on nights when the temperature drops to 32 degrees or 12 inches of snow is forecast.
Since 2013, Saratoga Springs has had the only emergency Code Blue facility in the county, and it has moved among a few locations including The Church of Saint Peter and the Salvation Army. For the last two years, it has been housed in a non-denominational church, the Soul Saving Station on Henry Street. However, the setup isn't ideal as the church is too small and does not have adequate amenities including showers, laundry or a kitchen big enough to cook for the nightly crowd of about 40, Finocchi said.
Finocchi's dream was to build a permanent Code Blue shelter next to the Shelters of Saratoga's sober housing on Walworth Street. In February 2017, Finocchi secured the financing with a donation from the Mitzen family. The project was then unanimously approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board.
But the neighbors, who live and work at the back of the SOS property on Marvin Alley, have mired the the project in litigation, delaying it from opening this past winter and likely this upcoming winter too. In April, the Bethesda Episcopal Church offered its yet-to-be constructed Parish House and Community Center as a year-round, permanent overnight shelter for the homeless.
Finocchi always saw the need for a permanent Code Blue space as a life and death situation.
"We don't want people dying out there," Finocchi said in March. "We don't want to find anyone dead in a snowbank."