Town may start homeless board

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on September 21, 2007

The town is considering creating a new board solely to deal with issues facing homeless people.

The move comes after a temporary task force completed its work, filed a report and disbanded. The Emergency Homeless Task Force's final report, delivered to the Select Board Monday, advises the town to work with the mayors of Northampton, Easthampton and Holyoke on regional issues of homelessness, and notes that while homelessness is a persistent problem in Amherst, it remains uncertain if an emergency shelter is necessary in town.

<h4>Informal steps thus far</h4>

Members of the Select Board have not yet formally discussed what the next steps are. Hwei-Ling Greeney has said she would like to see a seven-member committee appointed by the Select Board, with at least two members either currently or previously homeless. The panel would file written reports in March and September, offer recommendations and work with the regional 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness Initiative.

Flo Stern, chairwoman of the task force, told the Select Board that the homeless people in Amherst are homeless for extended periods, with few that are suddenly finding themselves without a home.

"What we found was that the major issue in our town is chronic homelessness, not emergency homelessness," Stern said.

Select Board Chairman Gerald Weiss said the report doesn't answer the question of whether there is a need for a single-room-occupancy facility in Amherst.

Stern suggested is having a room, possibly at the downtown fire station, that could be used for the emergency needs of homeless, saying, "It would be great to have a place like that."

Members of the task force met with a number of people, including Marla Singleton of ServiceNet, Police Chief Charles Scherpa, Meredith Doster of Dial/Self Teen services in Greenfield, and Don Perry, director of Single Room Occupancy Outreach. It also put together an informational sheet providing information about local shelters, such as Grove Street Inn and Jessie's House, drop in centers such as Amherst Survival Center, and meals programs.

Getting data was difficult, though, as the homeless population tends to be transient. Task force member Nancy Gregg said there is evidence of people living in tents.

Stanley Maron, a member of the task force, filed a minority report in response after speaking to several homeless people.

"Though the intent was good of the task force, the results were not at all thorough enough," Maron said.

Jonathan Nelms, of Lincoln Avenue, said the town needs to make more of an effort to work with homeless people. "I think you could do a better job of reaching out to the populations," Nelms said.

Mary Ann Cofrin, a member of the task force, noted that there is a need for a survey to get better statistics about how serious a problem homelessness is in Amherst.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.