People think that homelessness is a problem of the inner city—minorities, crime, drugs, etc. But there is a silent, secret problem right here in the suburbs, specifically here in Newton.
Case Study #1: My initial confrontation was not some panhandler at Mass and Cass but in beautiful down town Los Angeles. I was in town for a sociology convention this August and I was walking with my stroller suitcase and backpack from the Amtrak Union station to the Kawada Hotel in downtown LA.
I saw an Afro-American male in his 30s with a walker and said, “Hot day, isn’t it?” We should try to get out of the sun”, and then he approached me and hit me in the nose! I tried running away, even waving a $20 bill in his face” Hey, here’s some money, stop hitting me” and he slugged me again in the face.
I walked into my hotel bleeding all over; the staff was sympathetic but nonchalant—welcome to LA, home of hundreds of homeless. The man didn’t want my money—he was just mentally ill and it was a hot day.
I talked to the police and they said they could do nothing since I was not sent to a hospital or sustained serious injuries; but even if they had arrested him, he’s be out in a day or so.
A local fireman told me, “Mr. Porter, it’s a nearly insoluble problem and it’s carried from one generation to another. All we do is provide services and security.”
Case study #2. I returned from my trip to my condo in Newtonville and got a call from a friend, who I knew in the real estate business. Hesaid he needed a pad to crash; long story short, he had no place to stay except his car and he needed help. It lasted three days before I told him to get out: he had drinking, smoking, mental, and physical problems that were beyond my ability to help.
I gave him some money and some food, and he took off. Next thing I know he’s parked in a parking lot near me, and tells me his car broke down and needs help to get to the hospital. I drive him to the hospital. But he can only stay a few days there before they “throw” him out.
He told me he had lived in his storage unit in Brighton for several weeks but they discovered him and threw him out. Desperate, he called me.
But what could I do? I asked Newton City Counselor Marc Laredo and he said call Health and Human Services, but Chris said, no! They would only call the police and put me into a shelter. Chris wanted his independence, which was so important to his pride. He told me he was on the waiting list for a low-income room in Marshfield, but needed help (he can hardly walk due to feet problems and a bad heart) and so he stays in this parking lot in Newton. I bring him coffee and food but again, what else can I do?
This problem is pushing our friendship to the extreme. I cannot do any more except keep him alive until he gets into that place in Marshfield.
Newton (as well as Brookline) has no shelters for men or women. They have an abused shelter for women and children but this is a special case. What about women who are not abused but homeless?
I know the city and the Mayor are aware of the problem but there seems to be no political will to build a homeless shelter; just for the police to “ship” them to Waltham which does have a daytime shelter on Felton Street but you have to get out at 5 PM; plus a night shelter of 50 beds (but less beds are available due to Covid—spacing has reduced it to half that number) at 27 Lexington Street ,a renovated fire station, near Waltham City Hall.
Can you imagine a shelter for these unfortunate people near NEWTON City Hall? A case of NIMBY. The neighbors would be up in arms in a New York minute!
We need a committee (and I volunteer to be on it as a former rabbi and a sociologist) to see what can be done—and not just building “affordable housing” but a real shelter for people with immediate needs!
I don’t see it happening right away, but let’s at least begin the conversation about such a shelter. It would need the cooperation of the police, social workers, health care people, community and religious leaders. But it has to be done. Not just talk but action.
Will it happen? I’ll be honest. I don’t think anything will be done about building a shelter in Newton.
Dr. Porter –
Your poignant anecdote about your friend moving about aimlessly in Newton is as unfortunate as it is heart-wrenching.
As an active advocate for persons with disabilities since August 1980 — in both New York and Massachusetts — I have dealt with individuals requiring affordable accessible housing. And since September 2012, I have worked closely with advocates at the Boston Center for Independent Living, Inc., as well as the Disability Policy Consortium on a host of issues. One constant is the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP), which offers applicants (people with disabilities from age 21 through age 60) Vouchers to seek out apartments across the Commonwealth. The aim is to liberate people incarcerated in nursing homes or Long Term Care Facilities. Thus far, even during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, hundreds of people have left for communities of their choosing. The most vexing issue is finding affordable accessible housing for people with physical disabilities.
In addition, as a member of the Newton Commission On Disability for 20 years (I resigned in May), I met a group of people residing at the West Newton YMCA, who resided there temporarily until securing housing. During my tenure several folks found apartments within one of the State and Federally subsidized (HUD) residences of the Newton Housing Authority. The NHA owns and manages a dozen properties with approximately 1,200 tenants. Some tenants are retirees whose decades-long careers included Newton city government. Others have physical disabilities and/or some form of mental illness. Still others are elderly.
So, your premise relating to whether Newton civic leaders should include and administer shelters or whether the City’s officials harbor the moral foundation to build a shelter for individuals struggling with chronic homelessness are spot-on.
There are resources such as City of Newton Department of Health that possess resources to assist people in need. I do know attempts were made to include shelters in Newton from my 12-year role (2008-2020) as Co-Chair of the Commission On Disability, whereby I met weekly to monthly with Mayor Setti Warren, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, and with City departments and staff about access projects. Yet I do not sense any synergy to hurry to ensure shelter(s) will be constructed to benefit citizens confronting homelessness.
Your chutzpah to, a). bring awareness to a never-ending, deepening community crisis that is homelessness, and, b). use the Village14 blog to share your thoughts and bring voice to your concerns are commendable. I encourage you to contact the City Council to docket an item on that governing body’s Agenda to publicly hear you at one of its monthly meetings. Citizens do speak before the City Council frequently regarding an array of community matters.
Best to you!
Thank you, Girard. What time what place should I speak about the homeless to the City Council? Plus I have good News: Chris found a low cost small apartment in Marshfield, South Shore, so far from his friends here in Newton and Brighton but at only $269 a month so his $841 SS pays for it and he has some dignity. So, a success story but he was lucky he had a network of friends to help him and was very smart and resourceful.
Dr Porter,
Some important facts need clarification. Was your friend a resident of Newton? If not, it’s totally unreasonable to “expect” Newton to provide services for non-residents simply because he’s parked his car in a Newton parking lot.
One thing you could help is to allow him to use your address to apply for social benefits, and thus become a Newton resident to request resources.
If he is addiction and mental issues, the core issue is not housing but mental and addiction support
Dear Bugek–He was not a resident of Newton but formerly of Brighton and the South Shore–and good news, we found him a place a small apartment in Marshfield for only $269 a month. Will we ever see such prices and apts here in Newton? I doubt it. but we should try.
Why should we try? that’s nonsense. Not every community has to be affordable for all people. This isn’t a communist nation where equal housing is provided for the people by the government.
Newton isn’t affordable. Nor will it ever be. Look at Brookline, that is our future if we densify, not Somerville. Sure you can possibly point to some positives in Brookline, but the wealth gap there is enormous and single family homes on land with yards are even more expensive per sq/ft than newton. I guess if these affordable housing people get their way, anyone who already owns a single family house will see their value skyrocket!!
You can’t force a square peg into a round hole. Sorry.
I can’t agree more that a complete spectrum of services – mental and addiction support, but also housing – is necessary. It was not too long ago a brilliant proposal in Waban was rejected on NIMBY reasons (sorry, “transit” and “safety” reasons), if we’re serious about building developments in Newton, there’s no excuse to not add this to the pipeline.
So, the luxury developers can collect $4000 rents for the large influx of residents while existing property owners will be asked for yet another override to “support services for new residents”
Not against support, but clearly the developers are clearly taking advantage of our woke council.
Waban is elitist and fearful that these people are really vagrants and will reduce home values. Shame on Waban!
Jim, I agree with 100% but I dont think there is the will or energy to build a shelter here in Newton–the citizens dont want these “vagrants” around–what they dont know is that it could be them or their brother or sister or cousin who could be homeless!!
This started with Mike Dukakis closing state mental hospitals, and then cutting the state budget. It’s not a new issue, and I thank you for pointing out it is an issue in Newton.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1461&context=nejpp
This was written in 1996
Hey Jack,
I’m with you 100%. I’d like to volunteer with you on this project, if I can. Call me.
Dear Tom–I dont have your phone number. But my number is (617) 965-8388
Jack Leader – Not only are you out of touch with the realities burning on every community’s front door across the Commonwealth, but your history about the true and very necessary reasons to close State Asylums are inaccurate.
I’ll not bore you with the Long Sordid History of warehousing humans for 150 years in hellholes such as Fernald or Bridgewater State Hospital, and numerous other houses of horror. Yet the current crisis involving the Opioid epidemic has killed 600,000 Americans since 1996 when the Sackler Family of Purdue Pharma infamy and the American Medical Association sought multi-billion dollars of gifts to enrich themselves. Therein lies the Big Picture of today’s ongoing homeless problem.
Yes, super-wealthy Martha’s Vineyard is roiling with a triple whammy: homeless; drug crisis; and elders and others devoid of enough food to eat weekly. Go to: http://www.vineyardgazette.com to read the awful screed. Thank God, human services and social services organizations throughout the Island are available and daily dealing with those societal ills. All that is not foreign to Newton, too. Look around. We’ll always have the poor with us. For decades I heard tell from the hallowed halls of Congress and beyond: “Why is there still poverty in a land of plenty?” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy continuously put that question to powerbrokers and citizens alike in every State.
Carry on!
Girard, lets not be too harsh with Jack Leader. he was pointing out what happened under Dukakis–Dukakis let these people out and he needed to because Bridgewater Hospital etc were horrible places but we should have converted those beautiful places of real estate into housing for the homeless–but that would need staff and will. I dont know if that was present after Dukakis.