The Homeless Advisory Committee in Pittsfield sees data collected in January on the number of unhoused people in the city.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city had  more than 200 homeless individuals in January, a number that has increased steadily for two years.

On Wednesday, the Homelessness Advisory Committee was presented with data from the point-in-time (PIT) count, which is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.

There were at least 221 homeless people on Jan. 25: 180 in shelters, 31 unsheltered, and 10 who were couch surfing or in other temporary shelters.  

"It's obviously concerning," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds said.

"We all know on the ground level that the numbers are increasing but I think this really illustrates kind of in black and white that the numbers are on the increase and that Pittsfield really is the place where services and everything is being housed. You can see the numbers are really less significant countywide and I think that's kind of critical."

Michele LaFleur, data and evaluation manager for Community Action Pioneer Valley, explained that there was a storm on the night of the data's collection that could have affected the number of people outside.

In 2021, the PIT count showed 110 unsheltered people in the city and that number rose to 158 in 2022.

"This, as you can see, is definitely an increase from the past few years, and part of that could be that we kind of had some difficulties conducting the counts at the height of the COVID pandemic but it's definitely even beyond that," LaFleur commented.

"It's just increasing in general, homelessness in Berkshire County and in Pittsfield especially."

Pittsfield's 31 individuals without shelter was a stark difference from other Berkshire County communities that had no more than four.

Of the unsheltered situations, nine people were on the street or sidewalk, eight were in the woods or a camp, six were in a vehicle, four were in a park, three were in an unsafe structure, and one was under a bridge or overpass.

A majority of the people were in the 25 to 34 age range, were individuals not associated with a family, and cited mental health as a barrier to stable housing. They largely reported experiencing homelessness for at least one year.

This preliminary data was collected by the Three County Continuum of Care through local providers and is collected across the state. It will be finalized and submitted to the federal government.

The city has increased capacity at the emergency shelter at the foamier St. Joseph's High School and a new shelter at First United Methodist Church was expected to be finished in late March. It was not clarified whether the new shelter is open or not.
 
Erin Forbush, director of shelter and housing at ServiceNet, said the increased capacity has allowed them to count people a little bit differently than in the past.  

Dodds also gave an update on several housing projects that are taking place in the city.

She reported that the historic White Terrace buildings at 592-596 North St. are almost ready to begin construction into 41 new affordable units. Last year, the project was allocated $750,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Last week, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced more than $60 million to advance 12 affordable housing projects in the state. This included two Pittsfield efforts: Nine units at Zion Lutheran Church with and 28 units on West Housatonic Street.

Also last year, $6.5 million of ARPA funds were allocated for permanent supportive housing and a housing resource center.  

This includes units of permanent supportive housing on the second floor of Zion Lutheran Church's hall and new units at 111 West Housatonic St., a vacant property that is being donated by John Wendling.

It will also fund a housing resource center for residents at both locations in the rehabilitated, 7,700 square feet lower level of the church. It will have a lobby area with mailboxes, a quiet lounge area, a tech area for computer use and phone charging stations, a commercial kitchen, a community room, laundry facilities, lockers, bathrooms with showers, and office and consulting space.

"I know these projects take a long time to kind of come to fruition, there's a lot of steps that are involved and there's a lot of people that are involved," Dodds said, assuring the committee that there are positive things coming to address some of the issues.

On Thursday, the committee had sponsored its first housing resource fair at the Berkshire Athenaeum  with 10 different agencies offering information on programs and services.

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