GREENFIELD — When subzero temperatures impacted the region this winter, shelters in Greenfield became packed with homeless residents seeking shelter from the dangerous conditions.
This issue has prompted the Greenfield Human Rights Commission to pass a resolution this week asking the city to create a city-wide freeze plan to protect homeless residents from potentially dangerous low temperatures. The resolution asks the city to use city-owned or controlled property to house homeless residents during dangerously low temperatures, as well as provide transportation to the shelters.
The commission made the resolution following weeks-long discussion on the issue that began when bitter cold and subzero temperatures enveloped the region and shelters in the city ran out of space to protect homeless from the cold.
“The basic foundation is we want to make sure that the people of Greenfield are protected and taken care of, especially the ones who are most vulnerable,” Loreen Flockerzie, chairwoman to the Human Rights Commission, said.
The resolution calls for the city to create a “city sponsored and staffed temporary overnight emergency shelter” at city-owned or controlled property when temperature and wind chill pose a potential threat to human safety.
According to the resolution, the location would also be staffed with appropriate officials from the state, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, ServiceNet or a combination of members from those entities, in order to “satisfy the legal and regulatory requirements” for an emergency overnight shelter.
The resolution also requests free transportation be provided to the shelter and a toll-free hotline be established to facilitate transport, as well as assistance from the Greenfield Police Department to field calls from residents.
According to Lewis Metaxas, Human Rights Commission member, the action does not solve the larger issue of homelessness in the community but addressed an issue that caught the commission’s attention.
“I think this is something that we as a city can easily do and hope we do,” he said.
The final vote on the resolution, which occurred during the Human Rights Commission’s Tuesday meeting, had five members vote in favor, while one, Flockerzie, voted against. Sarah Ahern, who just joined the commission, abstained.
Flockerzie said that her vote against the resolution was not due to its content or intent, but instead because she felt the commission needed more time to review the matter.
“I voted against it going forward at the time, not voting against the content or philosophy behind it at all,” she said.
According to Mayor William Martin, the resolution was received Thursday evening and is being reviewed by his office.
“This is exactly what the commission is set up for, to be an advisory group for the mayor,” Martin said, “and they’ve focused on this sensitive question of homelessness and the need of a certain population group and we will look seriously at the matter.”