PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Homelessness Advisory Committee got an inside look at the city's new community health worker position on Wednesday.

Gabrielle DiMassimo has been in the role for about three months and works within the Health Department. The committee hopes it can be a resource to DiMassimo and a support network.

She explained that community health workers are often trusted members of the community and serve as a cultural bridge between providers and community members.

"Our goal is to help clients move from case management to self-management by providing them with health, education, empowerment, and appropriate resources to help them improve their quality of life," DiMassimo said.  

"Currently, this role focuses on creating connections between our city's vulnerable populations and health care and other service providers by advocating for and helping patients navigate the health care and social services systems."

She emphasized the importance of using a culturally appropriate and trauma-informed approach, staying current on all of the resources available to city residents, and working collaboratively with other departments and community organizations.

The role is still evolving, as it is new to the department. DiMassimo said she renewed her community health worker certification last month and has been approved for software to help track clients.

She is also involved with the Pittsfield Hub initiative, which provides wraparound services to acutely at-risk individuals in the community.

"Our goal at the Health Department is to provide outreach and health education to city residents," DiMassimo said.

"We plan to do this using our mobile health unit, which is a trailer that we just acquired about a year or two ago. It hasn't been out in the community yet. We have debuted it at Third Thursday, but we're really pushing to be able to provide residents with health services such as blood pressure screenings, counseling on their prescribed medications and vaccines."

Committee member Katelynn Miner said she was out talking with the homeless on North Street and noticed that some are going to the bathroom where they are stationed. Reportedly there was a significant amount of human waste in the entranceway of The Lantern Bar and Grill, which has been closed for six months.

DiMassimo said the resource control officer can handle such situations and pointed out that there is a public portable restroom at the Common.

The committee also discussed a petition from the City Council requesting demographics and plans for the winter shelter. The requested metrics included health status, drug use, mental health, employment status, marital status, geographic distribution, and citizenship.

Committee members pointed out that there was a presentation on the annual "Point in Time" count from Community Action Pioneer Valley in May that provided answers about homelessness in the city.

But many of the categories requested were not in that count.

Chair Kim Borden suggested that the panel responds to the council by telling it to review that meeting and sending the materials from it.

Erin Forbush of ServiceNet reported that the St. Joseph's shelter will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week beginning Nov. 14 with a capacity of about 50 people.

Prompted by the council's communication, the panel also discussed potential clients refusing services and the threshold for a guardianship process, which is reportedly quite high.

"To be frank, I'm pretty proud of our city and our services in our city because we have such a wonderful collaborative effort by all services," Borden said.

"And we're doing more to prevent homelessness and to assist with affordable housing for the homeless than really, most places are doing and more than we've ever had the ability to do before."

Director of Community Development Justine Dodds said she will draft a response with the suggestion to review the Point in Time presentation, an update on the winter shelter, and the role of the committee.

The committee was re-established in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused an uptick in homelessness in the city.  Both the former committee, re-established in 2018, and the current committee have been questioned by the City Council for its effectiveness.

The panel has not taken a voted action since January when it sent recommendations to Mayor Linda Tyer.  Meetings have largely consisted of presentations from local service providers.

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