To aid homeless, first count them

By Michele Morgan Bolton
Globe Correspondent / January 27, 2008

Despite a forecast of freezing rain, dozens of volunteers with the Plymouth County Housing Alliance plan to canvass the region Wednesday night to count the number of people who are homeless.

They will act on tips from police, churches, and social workers. Focusing largely on Brockton and Plymouth, the census takers will seek out the buildings, dumpsters, abandoned cars, and camp sites that have in the past provided shelter for people living on the streets.

Last year's count indicated 500 homeless people in Plymouth County - more than 100 living on the street, and the rest in homeless shelters. The most, 39, were in Brockton, followed by Plymouth with 23, Wareham with 21, and Hull with 19. Other area communities recorded six or fewer. Because some communities last year reported no homelessness or refused to participate, 500 is seen as a minimum number for the county.

"My honest assessment would be that I'm sure there are more than that," said Dennis Carman, cochairman of the Plymouth County Housing Alliance, and president and CEO of the United Way of Plymouth County.

This year's census is boosted by an improved tally system, designed by Michelle Wakin, a Bridgewater State College professor who is a specialist on homelessness. Roadblocks to accuracy in the past have included the complex geography of a 25-community area and some communities' hesitancy to acknowledge that they are affected, Carman said.

The goal isn't to embarrass cities or towns, but to gather the correct numbers to ensure maximum assistance from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, Carman said. This year's allocation, announced in December, is $675,000, Carman said.

"Plymouth, Kingston, Hanover, and Rockland are towns where I would expect to see more homeless," he said. "Or any town that has a well-trafficked center where people can hide behind commercial buildings, and also those with low-income areas."

But even in Middleborough, which has a range of incomes, homelessness is evident. One woman is thought to be camping near the bus depot, or by an Interstate 495 on-ramp. She will be among those sought out on Wednesday.

Many human services providers look with hope to Governor Deval Patrick's proposed $10 million plan to eliminate homelessness in Massachusetts within five years.

The ambitious initiative aims to prevent people from losing their homes and also would help secure permanent housing for those already in shelters.

John Yazwinski, president and CEO of Father Bills & MainSpring, which operates shelters in Brockton, Middleborough, Quincy, and Stoughton, said ending homelessness is a tall order in tough economic times.

"For families, we see a 10 percent increase, whereas statewide the number is 17 percent," Yazwinski said. "Some of it has to do with foreclosures. But we generally have a 20- to 30-person overflow a night where they're sleeping on cots or the floor."

Father Bills & MainSpring's emergency shelters in Brockton and Quincy also have seen a significant rise in the number of homeless people from all communities south and southeast of Boston, he said. A quick look at registrations showed 52 from Weymouth, 30 from Braintree, 18 from Rockland, 10 from Hingham, seven from Carver, five from Kingston, four each from Middleborough and East Bridgewater, and three from Duxbury.

"You could say that most towns average from eight to 10 people," Yazwinski said, and thousands of residents live just steps from homelessness, facing daily choices such as whether to have heat on or milk in the house, or whether to give their children their medicine or pay a bill.

The shelter does what it can to protect people who are homeless and at risk of freezing, he said, but because of issues such as mental illness or an unwillingness to obey shelter rules, some choose to remain outside. "We have a nurse who goes out and begs these people to come in, but the law says . . . we can't force them," he said.

Tom Washington, MainSpring's director of operations, is coordinating Wednesday's count. He said teams will gather between 8 and 9 p.m. at City Hall in Brockton before fanning out.

"I've been doing this for 12 years and I know they can be anywhere," he said. "We had a guy living under an old trailer on the south side of Brockton. Another year, we had a couple living in a tent in a wooded area downtown.

"We tell people there are resources. There is help. They just need to come in and take advantage of them."

Washington hopes Wednesday will be slow. "If the numbers are lower, that's good," he said. "If we don't find anyone out there, that's awesome."