Homelessness in Poughkeepsie
Co-Written by: Adriana Belmonte & Tom Martin
“We’re all people,” Linda Malave, Director of Adult and Family Services at Hudson River Housing (HRH) said. Malave has worked with HRH for the past 14 years, trying to create a safe atmosphere for homeless people in the area. “Everyone deserves housing,” she said. “That’s our philosophy.”
A chronic homeless person is defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as an unaccompanied single adult with a disabling condition who has been continuously homeless for one year or who has experienced four or more episodes of homelessness within the last three years.
According to a 2016 report from the Dutchess County Continuum of Care, between April 1 and June 30, 2016, 1375 people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. 40 percent of these were women, 59 percent were men, and approximately 2 percent were trans-identified.
HRH began over 30 years ago as a response to the growing homelessness in the area. At the time, there was only one employee working with the organization. Now, there are 134 employees working with them who oversee the 1000+ homeless individuals they see each year.
There are 25 different programs associated with HRH throughout the greater Poughkeepsie area. Webster House is the adult overnight shelter that can host up to 60 adults at a time.
Barbara Vitale, Housing Counselor for HRH, works at the Webster House and Hillcrest House. “Homelessness is a community problem,” she said. She believes that finding affordable housing is what makes it hard for many of these people to improve their situations. “More beds are not the answer,” Vitale said. “More affordable housing has been proven to work.”
In 2009, Dutchess County received $4,387,909 in stimulus funds from HUD. However, according to a survey done by Many Voices One Valley, 65 percent of renters in Dutchess County “feel priced out of homeownership” including 41 percent who say being able to afford a home is not likely at all.
Malave has seen success with HRH’s program of subsidized rent. In order to fund this, HRH uses money provided through grants. Through the STEP Program, HRH pays the first month of rent and a security deposit to get the person “on the right track.” As a result, Malave said, some people have gotten permanent, full-time jobs. She added, “We’re trying to get them back on their feet.”
Malave and HRH are “constantly” seeking new opportunities to provide more affordable, permanent, subsidized housing. “We always have ‘irons in the fire,’” she said. “We’re in it for the long haul.”
HRH has several goals that they try to implement with the homeless people they house. These include setting financial, personal, and health goals, helping to facilitate independence, teaching life skills “on-site,” providing tools for them that they have not previously been exposed to, and having resources such as AA and NA programs accessible to their residents.
The reason why HRH provides AA and NA programs is because alcohol and substance use are some of the biggest factors that lead to homelessness in Dutchess County, along with poverty, mental illness, and an overall struggling economy.
Maureen Murphy, Single Point of Access and AOT Coordinator for the Department of Mental Hygiene, works with the mentally ill, especially those that are homeless. “You wouldn’t know some of the mentally ill when they’re on their meds,” she explained. “But when they start feeling good, they often stop taking them and as a result, lose their jobs and their homes.”
Vitale agreed that mental illness is one of the driving factors that bring people to the Webster House. She speculates that the 2011 shutdown of the Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie brought many former patients to the streets. “They’re not equipped to work so where can they go?” she said.
In order for someone to be allowed to stay at the Webster House, they must go through a screening process each night. Most are accepted, with exceptions for those who pose a threat or are combative. “We know our population,” Vitale said. “It’s really based on how they are presented and how they behave for the screening.”
Adults are not the only ones facing homelessness in Dutchess County, however. Christina Caserta, Assistant Shelter Manager of River Haven Shelter, is responsible for kids from ages 10 to 17. River Haven Shelter, part of HRH, is a 30 day voluntary program and is the only shelter for children in Dutchess County, who end up at the shelter because of family issues, parents struggling with addiction or on parole, and more.
The goal of River Haven Shelter is for the kids “to work things out and get them back home,” Caserta said. The shelter can house up to 12 kids at one time, six boys and six girls. The children receive free food and shelter, but must complete chores and participate in group activities. “They’re here to work on themselves and their home situations,” Caserta said. The children are brought in mainly from referrals from schools, parents, hospitals, probation, and courts. They can stay up for up to 30 days without parental permission, and some even stay for up to two months.
River Haven keeps a rigid schedule in order for the children to stay on track. They must attend school every day and are given time after school to complete their homework. A tutor is provided as well. Dinner is at 6 p.m. and afterwards, the children must complete their chores and be in bed by 9:30 p.m.
Vitale and her co-workers implement a strict schedule at Webster House in order to keep things flowing properly. Lights go out at 11 p.m., with wake-up at 5 a.m. Residents can shower and eat breakfast before leaving by 7 a.m. During the day, they spend time at the library, the river, or even their jobs while some use the Living Room Program/Mel’s Place at the Family Partnership Center, a daytime resource for the homeless. The program provides job-finding resources, such as The Charles S. North Employment Assistant & Training Station (EATS).
The Living Room Program at Mel’s Place began approximately 13 years ago as a safe place for the homeless to go during the day and is named after Melvin Garrett, the former director of the program and a major advocate for homeless aid. The program offers mailboxes, showers, laundry, and daytime lockers. “We all get along and it’s typically very relaxed,” Tracy Edmonstone, who works at Mel’s Place, said. “It feels secure, like family.” She estimated that she sees between 100 to 120 people each day.
One of those people is a woman who has cancer but refuses to see a doctor, Edmonstone said. The woman said that the only thing helping is coming to the program to be around those who she considers family. “It’s great to hear these stories but we try to get them to move on and be stabilized,” Edmonstone said. “The main goal is to get these people a shelter or a job.”
The screening process for the Living Room Program is important, she said. Workers need to know the health history of the individual, including any mental illnesses or diseases they have, such as HIV. Anyone with a violent history or registered as sex offender is barred from participation. “It has to feel safe here,” Edmonstone said.
With the growing heroin epidemic in the Hudson Valley, Edmonstone has seen her share of people in the program struggling with addiction. “Six weeks ago, a girl came in, so bad she wasn’t responding, and had delayed breathing,” she shared. “I had to administer Narcan because she was overdosing and she came out of it.” That has not always been the case for individuals at the Living Room Program. Edmonstone seen chronic drug addicts “recover and move on” but has also lost many clients as well. “We wonder, how can our society allow this?” she said. “But in here we can protect them. When they leave, we can’t. That’s the nature of the beast we work with.”
Veterans are often among the homeless population in Dutchess County and Liberty Station, part of HRH, tries to provide as many resources as possible for homeless vets. Liberty Station receives funding from a Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grant from the Department of Veteran Affairs and uses those funds to help veterans find jobs, affordable housing, and benefits for those that have not yet applied for them. The program can house 26 male veterans and four female veterans who pay for it with 30 percent of their income. In order for a veteran to qualify, they must make no more than 50 percent of the average median income. If they do, Liberty Station can offer referrals to the other organizations.
“They try not to call us cause pride gets in the way,” Leona O’Connell, a Case Manager at Liberty Station said. “By the time they come to us, they’re in a bad spot.”
Anthony Kavouras, Outreach Specialist and Director of Public Relations at Liberty Station, believes that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse are the biggest problems that these homeless veterans face. “Guys get injured while serving and are prescribed painkillers, which leads to addiction and discharge without benefits,” he said. “Some were out in the woods for years before we found them. The military broke them and now they need someone to fix them.”
Those that work at Liberty Station work to make sure the homeless veterans know that they are not alone. “We have guys making six figures who lose their jobs, sell everything, and wind up homeless while they are looking for their job that no longer exists,” Kavouras said. “These guys were fighting in wars, driving million dollar vehicles, handling equipment, and being leaders and now they have to ask for help.”
O’Connell added that PTSD does not help the situation. “Imagine being hit with all of this at once,” she said.
Kavouras talked about one woman who he has dealt with who has four kids from ages six to 21. “She is more than willing to take for her kids but won’t accept anything for herself,” he said.
The stigma that is often attached to being homeless is something that HRH frowns upon.
“We like to dispel the image that people have of the homeless,” Malave said. “People of all ages are homeless, even working people. In the past, we had a lawyer/golf pro, an Elvis impersonator, and more.”
With the Webster House, Malave understands the challenge because of the amount of people that stay there a night. “We understand the fears but we try to make it homey,” she said. “We’re very focused on empathy.”
Empathy is why Malave and the others are very supportive of “Code Blue,” Governor Andrew Cuomo’s statewide executive order that mandates communities to take in all homeless people off of the streets when the temperature reaches below 32 degrees, wind chill reaches below zero degrees, or if there are ice storms, freezing rain, or snow greater than six inches.
“It’s the humane thing to do,” Vitale said. During the summer when there is extreme heat, the Webster House has opened up in the afternoon as a cooling station for homeless people. This became a greater concern after four homeless people were struck by lightning in Poughkeepsie at the park they were sleeping at. “We really try to take it day by day,” she said. “You never know what situation could come up.”
Kavouras supports Code Blue as well. “If you need help, we are here to provide it,” he said. Edmonstone agreed, saying, “We never turn people away unless we have to. This is their home.”
Malave stated that HRH is waiting for official word to see if Code Blue will again be implemented again this year, but in the meantime, they will continue to carry it out, like they did already in October. She does understand, though, that there are some homeless individuals that do not like it, because they are not able to bring their belongings inside with them because of baggage policies.
At the Webster House, Vitale said they “try to air on the side of caution” when it comes to prohibiting bags from being brought in, due to fire hazards, hygiene issues, and other safety concerns.
Malave understands the concern with bags, but said they try to accommodate as much as possible. “We get it though,” she said. “We want to be part of the solution.”
Edmonstone knows that even if it were not for the bag policy, there are still homeless people who will never come in because they do not want to be in large groups or in shelters.
Often, these are women that are afraid of “shelter life,” which is why these shelters always see more single men than women. Vitale tries to ease their discomforts at the Webster House by putting up curtains in the rooms to separate the men from the women. She is not able to do this every night, however, because “you never know what the demographic will be.”
While most support Code Blue, not all are in agreement with the “Point-in-Time” (PIT) policy, which is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January, according to HUD. The most recent one in Dutchess County was done on Jan. 24. Six individuals were noted as “unsheltered.” In emergency housing, there were a total of 74 individuals while in transitional housing there were 87. “It’s just not accurate,” Vitale said. The numbers do not include those that sleep in the woods or on “friend’s couches” for the night.
Despite some negative aspects, Malave finds that working with the homeless is a “rewarding” experience. “The very folks that people are afraid of are the ones that help and are understanding and flexible,” she said.
Vitale added to that statement. “We’ve been around for 35 years and we’re not going anywhere,” she said. “We’re very optimistic for the future.”
