Homeless getting new lease on life

[Kellie]

By Laura Crimaldi
Monday, December 11, 2006 - Updated: 02:57 PM EST

All across the state, men and women who have spent years on the streets finally have what they’ve always wanted.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=lineHeight cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cc6600> Finding Home</TD><TD width=5 rowSpan=2><SPACER width="5" height="5" type="block"></TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#efefef><TABLE class="lineHeight charBorder" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=5></TD><TD>Audio: George Rigby</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=5></TD><TD>Audio: Colleen Alleyne</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> A house key.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Part of an innovative national trend in homeless care, the “housing first” models are taking the chronically homeless out of the shelter system by offering permanent housing in a group setting where access to medical, mental health and substance services are never far away.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> In Massachusetts, the systems receive private, federal and state funding, including the Home and Healthy for Good grant money cut and then restored to the budget by Gov. Mitt Romney last month.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> “In the emergency shelter system, they are just kind of ricocheting around,” said John Yazwinski, executive director of Father Bill’s Place in Quincy. “We interviewed in 2003 and 2004 everyone who came into the shelter. What they told us is that, ‘I need a house. I need a place to live. And then I can start putting the pieces back together.’ ”
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Advocates believe permanently housing the homeless could dramatically cut costs by reducing hospitalizations, emergency room visits and arrests. The model also helps social workers find more appropriate services for homeless people, some of whom are too ill to live in an emergency shelter.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> In Quincy, the opening of 37 permanent housing units for men and women has meant Father Bill’s Place could reduce its emergency shelter capacity by 35 beds, Yazwinski said.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> In Framingham, the South Middlesex Opportunity Council closed a 40-bed shelter two months ago after opening up permanent housing units that were granted to 29 people, said executive director Jim Cuddy.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> In exchange for the new homes, tenants are expected to have a case manager and a self-sufficiency plan. Where possible, rents are leveraged at a rate of 30 percent of the individual’s monthly income.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" height="8" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> “We have brokered our system to really try to address issues that have made shelters into holding bins for individuals who often get lost and pinballed between different places,” said Cuddy. Shelter staff now consider whether emergency shelter, nursing care, psychiatric care or permanent housing for each client is appropriate. “You get staff to work differently at the front door and have a variety of housing options available.”
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