NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A Days Inn in New Haven could turn into a homeless shelter under a new proposal.

The city is considering buying the Days Inn on Route 80 and making it a non-congregate shelter.

The director of New Haven’s Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Steve Werlin, said there are more people living on the streets now than a year ago, with some having no place to sleep.

“We are in a humanitarian crisis right now,” he said, adding that there are 200 to 300 people who need emergency shelter.

Mayor Justin Elicker said the plan will be presented to the New Haven Board of Alders on Monday. He said the model is needed.

“So, for example, we’ve seen people who are a couple, and they want to stay together,” Elicker said. “In a lot of congregate shelters that exist, it’s for only one sex or another sex, and they don’t allow for couples to stay together. Someone may have a pet.”

He said people will have to be referred to the shelter in order to get in. About $5 million from state bonding would help pay for the $6.9 million price of the hotel. Additional money from the American Rescue Plan, and $1.9 million in city surplus, would help with the price tag.

The goal is to have the shelter open by winter.