|
Center for Social Policy
McCormack Graduate School
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125-3393
Phone: (617) 287 5550
Fax: (617) 287 5544
|
| back to Press index page |
| |
| Help For The Homeless |
Author(s):
Editorial
Source(s):
Boston Globe, Page: A26 Section: Editorial
Date: August 23, 2002
|
IN MASSACHUSETTS, homelessness is swallowing more and more people: overwhelmed children,
humiliated parents, and single adults struggling to provide for themselves.
Just when these people need more help, they're falling into holes left by state budget cuts.
There are fewer shelter beds, and, for families, tougher rules for getting these beds. Today
Mayor Menino is holding a rally at Fenway Park on behalf of homeless people. Following are some
points he could make:
- Local success stories should inspire more action. Programs such as Project Hope and the
Pine Street Inn help people move from homeless to independence.
- Other cities are setting good examples. In New York, the Pathways to Housing program uses
a simple strategy: Housing first. Clients who get a place to live do not have to get a job,
give up drugs, get religion, take medication, spend time in a shelter, or go through a program.
But they are offered help to build a better life from treatment to job training to building
social skills.
- Boston can't go it alone. Sadly, the new state budget is sending more families into the
street, by declaring that people at 130 percent of the federal poverty level - $19,526 for a
family of three - are no longer eligible for shelter. Only those at or below 100 percent of
poverty need apply. The state also eliminated an emergency program that helps families pay back
rent - almost guaranteeing that some families will end up homeless.
Menino should lay out his game plan for Boston, explaining how his five-year plan to end
homelessness by 2005 will be affected by the budget cuts.
The city also needs a new director for its Emergency Shelter Commission. The former director,
Kelley Cronin, has left, and acting director Ed Cameron will also be leaving.
Having more information is crucial. The city currently conducts a census, a one-night count that
found 6,000 homeless people in Boston last December, up 57 percent from the 3,830 found in 1989.
The McCormack Institute at UMass-Boston offers a more complete statewide picture. But only 60
percent of shelters report their data. With more city or state money, the McCormack Institute
could give politicians and advocates the detailed information they need.
Ultimately, helping the homeless means creating more affordable housing, especially for the
neediest. In addition to low rents, the state needs more assisted living facilities. People who
may never be able to work because of illness or disability still need decent homes.
Bleak budgetary times may prevent city and state leaders from making great strides in ending
homelessness. But they should at least protect the progress that has been made.
|
|
