ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A fatal stabbing on Aug. 7 at Rochester’s House of Mercy led to the shutdown of one of upstate New York’s largest homeless shelters.

Other shelters are now stepping in to help house the dozens of people that typically rely on the House of Mercy.

However, it is adding an extra strain to an already difficult situation.

“We get a lot of individuals seeking shelter calling into us at 211,” program director of 211 Lifeline Deborah Turner said.

Turner says that people seeking emergency shelter can call 211 Lifeline, a mission program of Goodwill of the Finger lakes that works to help to place individuals in shelters.

“There is a ton of functioning shelters within Rochester,” Turner said. “You know, some of those shelters are through the Catholic Family Center, the YWCA.”

Open Door Mission and Hour of Hospitality are also ready for an influx of people in need of support. However, with an average of 815 individuals experiencing homelessness on a given night in Monroe County, there still doesn’t seem to be enough.

“Within Monroe County, we do have a lot of shelters embedded in the system,” Turner said. “But we do see still a presiding need of shelters within our community. We do have a high number of homeless populations.”

The co-founder of REACH, Andy Carey, says that since New York’s eviction moratorium ended at the beginning of this year, the amount of individuals in need of emergency shelter has significantly increased.

“We’re starting to see more people living in cars, RVs, more people in the suburbs like in the Walmart parking lots and stuff,” Carey said. “So it’s definitely growing rapidly.”

While organizations like 211 Lifeline are doing their best to help with the replacement of individuals after the temporary shutdown of the House of Mercy, it has been a difficult journey that will take time and a lot of compassion.

“Compassion is key," Turner said. "Because the truth is hearing all the stories we do about individuals who are homeless, you could see yourself in their shoes and how they got to where they got to and that we could get there too.”