AMHERST – As the behavior of some homeless people in downtown Amherst raises concerns expressed by the police and business community, a local agency plans an initiative to get people chronically on the streets into housing.
Town Meeting this spring will be asked to consider spending $150,000 over three years from the Community Preservation Act to launch the Housing First program by Amherst Community Connections, an agency run by Hwei-Ling Greeney.
“This is designed for people who are chronically homeless for at least a year,” Greeney said.
The money would provide tenant-based rental assistance and support services to five homeless people, some facing serious disabling conditions such as mental health, and teach them how to be responsible tenants. If funded, the program could begin in July.
Greeney said this program, similar to ones already in existence elsewhere, has not been tried in Amherst, where public housing has long waiting lists and most rentals are too expensive.
“I believe this is the first ‘housing first’ initiative here in Amherst,” Greeney said.
Six informational sessions about the Housing First program will be held over the coming weeks.
The sessions will be at 3 and 4 p.m. Saturday, 3 and 4 p.m. April 23 and 4 and 5 p.m. April 27. All will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 121 North Pleasant St.
People interested in attending should call 345-0737 or ACCinAmherst@gmail.com.
Greeney said the initiative makes sense for two reasons.
First, while it does mean spending, it should save taxpayers money by not having people cycle through homeless shelters while addressing underlying causes, whether mental health or drugs and alcohol addictions, Greeney said.
Second, it will improve the situation downtown, removing some of the nearly 20 chronically homeless people from the streets, she said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
