PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Committee on Public Health and Safety had a lengthy conversation on homelessness in the community and set immediate and long-term goals.

 

After a near three-hour meandering conversation Tuesday, the committee set some goals for the community, City Council, and administration in regard to Pittsfield's homeless population.  

 

"I just want to make sure we are moving in some sort of direction," Chairwoman Helen Moon said.

 

After a broad discussion with service providers and city staff, the members came up with a slate of action items. 

 

In the immediate future, they agreed there is a need to find a space suitable for a winter shelter as well as better directing of the community's donations and support.

 

They also zeroed in on some longer-term goals and agreed to help local agency ServiceNet find a better, larger shelter as well as advocate for more state and federal funds to support the programs for the homeless.

 

Earlier this month, the City Council referred three petitions to the subcommittee having to do with the now-closed temporary shelter at the former St. Joseph's Central High School, the homeless encampment at Springside Park, and the general homelessness situation in the city.

 

Mayor Linda Tyer gave an overview of the closure of the temporary shelter at a past City Council meeting so councilors directed their questions toward Jay Sacchetti, vice president of addiction and sheltering services at ServiceNet. 

 

ServiceNet managed the temporary shelter as well as the permanent facility at Barton's Crossing.

 

He said the shelter at the high school was never designed to be permanent. During the outset of the pandemic, it served nearly 50 residents. Once the weather warmed in the spring and summer, the numbers dropped to between 15 and 20.

 

He said discussions began in June with the city to decommission the shelter on July 13.

 

"We told the city what we were experiencing and we felt it was time to close the resource," he said. "It was always meant to be temporary, and we let everybody know that."

 

Sacchetti said this was typical, and that during the warmer months, they often close the winter shelter. He said ServiceNet restricts when people can enter the shelter and does not allow the use of substances. Because of this, many choose to go live elsewhere once it is warm enough to stay outside.   

Residents at St. Joe were given three weeks' notice of the closure and ServiceNet contacted those who had already moved on so they had the opportunity to return to pick up their belongings, he said.

 

Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio said he thought the closure was abrupt and wished there was better communication between all parties. He also had questions about ServiceNet's finances.

 

"This is a serious issue. We have a pandemic, we have homeless people living in parks, lakes, and now we have a headcount of nearly 80 homeless people," he said. "There is no reason why a temporary shelter could not be in place as long as the governor's state of emergency lasts. There needs to be some accountability."

 

Sacchetti said at the time the decision was made to close, there was no certainty if any additional resources would be coming from the state and it was unknown if the shelter would be funded..

 

ServiceNet typically operates with a $780,000 to $800,000 budget for all of its facilities in Pittsfield, Greenfield, and Northampton. Barton's Crossing operates annually with a budget of $280,000. He said all shelters typically finish the fiscal year in a deficit.

 

The agency received another $719,000 through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that will be split between all of its shelters as well as another $25,000 from the United Way for Pittsfield.

 

Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell asked if there was a contract between the city and ServiceNet, and Tyer said the city only provides a small amount of money to ServiceNet each year through human services funding. She said Pittsfield only has a contract for the use of this money that includes accountability requirements.

 

She said ServiceNet is licensed with the state and that the city has no contract with ServiceNet in regard to management. 

 

Director of Community Development Deanna Ruffer said the city has about $240,000 in CARES Act funds that will be used to help public services agencies such as ServiceNet. She said the city held on to this money until the individual agencies used their fiscal 2020 amounts so they could better judge where there would be needs.

 

Sacchetti said there is a need for funding and only a small percentage of money makes it out to Berkshire County.

 

Tyer said she has learned a lot over the past few months and planned to advocate for more money in Pittsfield.

 

"ServiceNet operates on a shoestring, and it is amazing what they are able to do with such a small amount of money," she said. "I think part of my duty is to advocate up the chain at the state and federal level for more funding in Pittsfield because our needs are growing."

 

The conversation then moved to the conditions at Barton's Crossing, ServiceNet's current shelter, and Maffuccio said he did not think it was a suitable location.

 

"These are human lives we are talking about here, and they are afraid to live under those circumstances," he said.

 

Sacchetti said although Barton's Crossing has consistently passed city inspections, it is in rough shape.

 

"It is not a building you can bring back and that is the way it has been," he said. "We do our best to keep it clean, but it is an old building."

 

He said for this reason the agency hopes to move to United Methodist Church, but this project has yet to receive the proper permitting. It has also received a lot of push back from the downtown business community.  

 

He added that with COVID-19 restrictions, Barton's Crossing is limited to about 12 beds, so there would likely be an immediate need to open up an emergency shelter.

 

Sacchetti said the city did reach out to the Diocese of Springfield to inquire about reopening St. Joe's, but the city has not heard back. 

 

There was concern among the councilors that ServiceNet did not have a plan B if the United Methodist Church did not work out. This was compounded with the coming colder weather.

 

Sacchetti said ServiceNet has looked at a few different locations but that it is hard to find a space that met code and could be used as a shelter. Also, a renovation would be expensive.

 

"We are being asked to do something that is somewhat impossible -- to create space during a pandemic. It feels impossible sometimes," he said. "If we don't have the space then it comes back to the community. We cannot solve this problem by ourselves." 

 

Connell noted at one time ServiceNet was interested in using the Second Street Jail. 

 

Sacchetti said the building needed a fire suppression system, and there was a reluctance from the building owner to go further. He said it is worth exploring again.

 

The conversation at times was heated. But Sacchetti said the agency is only mandated to provide 10 beds and that homelessness is a community issue that ServiceNet alone cannot solve.

 

Brad Gordon of Berkshire Regional Housing Authority, who was also on the call, spoke up and redirected the conversation toward longer-term solutions. He said it would be more productive to discuss solutions instead of blaming different agencies.  

 

The conversation then moved to Springside Park and the city's decision to no longer allow donations at the park pavilion. Donations will now be accepted at different service agencies and distributed equally where needed.

 

Ruffer said although the community was generous with its donations, the pavilion was not set up to handle this service. She said some people dropped off inappropriate items and appeared to be just cleaning out their homes.

 

Also, people using the pavilion would only allow certain members of the encampment to pick from the donations. She said it was becoming a space for "undesirable behavior."

 

Parks and Open Spaces Manager James McGrath added that the city did provide portable toilets at the park as well as hand-washing stations. These portable units are sanitized by the vendor.

 

He added that service agencies are in constant contact with those staying at Springside Park.

 

The subcommittee then discussed the Homelessness Prevention Committee, and Maffuccio felt the committee "dropped the ball" and was "defunct." 

 

"We are in charge of trying to solve this problem even though we have a homeless commission," he said. "We are not professionals and are doing the best we can."

 

The homeless committee has not met in months.

 

Maffuccio added that he was told that the Community Development Office informed the committee members they could not meet. Ruffer said this was not true.

 

Homeless Committee Chairman Ed Carmel was invited to Tuesday night's meeting but was unable to attend because of technical difficulties, according to Moon.

 

Moon said that committee does plan to meet in September.

 

The three petitions were not actually discussed during the meeting, however, they originally were referred to the subcommittee only to spark conversation and begin the process of addressing homelessness in the city.

 

The committee tabled a petition asking the mayor to give an overview of the closing of the temporary shelter and a petition asking the city to use free cash to assist in acquiring a shelter.

 

A petition asking for a full accounting of all funds expended at the temporary shelter was filed.