GREENFIELD — The emergency shelter housing in the High Street Clinical & Support Options building that the city said should be ready to go this month is not expected to be open until closer to wintertime.
The new timeframe for emergency housing was announced at a Human Rights Commission meeting Monday evening by Community Development Administrator M.J. Adams.
The change in when shelter housing will be available means that the Aug. 20 deadline to leave the Board of Health gave last week for those living in tents on the Greenfield Common might mean people could be kicked off without a place to go.
“What’s helpful is to have a sense that the camping on the common is not a long term option,” Adams said. “That’s the message we need to put out there.”
Adams and Mayor William Martin at the meeting stressed they are working to make sure there are opportunities elsewhere, as local service agencies and the Salvation Army work one-on-one with the 17 people residing on the Common.
Human Rights Commission Chairman Loreen Flockerzie was generally pleased with the direction the city was going to address an issue her group has been discussing since the start of the calendar year.
“For a while we were discussing and discussing, but it’s one of those things that catches and then goes,” Flockerzie said.
Members Lewis Metaxas and Sarah Ahern were at times more critical of the mayor’s plans to this point.
“Rapid rehousing is a great idea,” Metaxas said. “Policy-wise, it is a response to a crisis, and a good response. But when that passes, as it will, and the leaves start to turn and the snow starts to fly,” what will the long term, permanent solutions be?
“I’m still not hearing immediate emergency action,” Ahern said. “If this is truly a crisis, what’s the immediate solution?”
Martin emphasized the need to address the issue locally and not start to think of the issue too big. For some, he said it “might be an opportunity for someone to wear a flag or poster and complain about the way society is today.”
He was, in part, responding to a prior comment by Ahern who mentioned national trends on minimum wage not being a livable wage. Martin briefly discussed economics, stating the unemployment rate here in Greenfield, and nationally, has continued to drop over the years. He did note housing stock could be more robust although he wasn’t positive if that would drive down housing prices.
The city is also in talks with the Greenfield Housing Authority and its nonprofit arm to find out if there’s any additional housing stock. This could be a more long term solution, she said.
There were questions on whether the city will receive federal funding to help pay for more housing availability. Adams said, “I’m cautious on having any additional assistance for housing from Washington.”
She also stated throughout Monday’s meeting it’s important to lobby legislators, particularly Congressman Jim McGovern, to advocate for more money in this realm.
Notes prepared by Adams in preparation for a City Council meeting before the Board of Health decision, stated the city was looking at a mid-September deadline for the homeless moving from the Common to.”
At Monday’s meeting, the commission discussed its role and the city’s role in all of this — in other words, to what extent is all of this an issue that needs to be handled by the government or by private entities.
Adams stressed the city’s role at the moment is to be a liaison for communication to allow for more comprehensive solutions between private social service agencies.
“People were falling through the cracks,” Adams said. “And we need to get a real handle on what the next step is so people who want to move out of homelessness can have a pathway.”
Flockerzie agreed, saying her goal is to make sure to “get people back on their feet.”
“My thought is they will be committed to the community because it’s the community that helped to get them to that point,” she said.
You can reach
Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264