Homeless Prevention Council Archives - The Provincetown Independent

Homeless Prevention Council

HOMELESSNESS

Regional Count of Homeless Persons Jumps 33 Percent

568 people were either in shelters or sleeping rough on Jan. 23

By Oliver Egger Jun 26, 2024

PROVINCETOWN — Every year on one winter night, homelessness workers across the country fan out for a census of America’s unhoused population: people sleeping in shelters or who are unsheltered and sleeping in cars, abandoned buildings, or on the street.

The “Point In Time Count,” or PIT count, took place on Jan. 23 this year, and in June the Cape and Islands Regional Network on Homelessness released the data: 568 people were in shelters or transitional housing or were unsheltered that night. Of that number, 164 were under age 18. All but one of the children counted were with family members in shelters, while one was counted as “unaccompanied youth.”

Seventy-six people in the tally were unsheltered that night, including three unsheltered adults on Nantucket and one on Martha’s Vineyard. The count on the Vineyard was noticeably lower than in prior years, when as many as 14 unsheltered adults had been counted there.

But Barnstable County’s “unsheltered adults” tally was more than double the number from last year, or any year since 2019.

The number of people in family shelters has also increased dramatically, from 175 last year to 300 this year.

The overall tally of 568 people was a 33-percent increase from the January 2023 count, which found 427 unhoused people on the Cape and Islands.

A Likely Undercount

The PIT count is almost certainly an undercount, according to Dan Gray, director of Barnstable County’s homelessness programs.

That is because the federal Dept. of Housing and Urban Development requires that the data include only people who are seen and tallied by counters on that specific night. People living in motels are counted only if a government-funded program is paying for their stay.

“If someone is sleeping outside in Provincetown 364 days a year, but they happen to stay on a couch on the night of the count, you cannot count them as being unhoused” in the PIT Count, said Gray.

The date of the count also lowers the totals, said Hadley Luddy, CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council. While the homeless population is relatively consistent throughout the year, there is an increase in summer that is not reflected in the January count, she said.

While the PIT Count helps inform Congressional funding for homelessness support, Gray said that changes in the tally don’t have much effect on the resources directed to Cape and Islands support agencies. The funding formula “is pretty set in stone,” he said.

Six caseworkers from the Homeless Prevention Council led the count in the four Outer Cape towns this year. They found four unsheltered homeless people in Provincetown that night, and none in Truro, Wellfleet, or Eastham.

The increase in the rest of the Cape’s unsheltered population that night could have been due to relatively warm weather, Gray said. The St. Joseph Shelter in Hyannis and Duffy Health Center’s “In From the Streets” program activate their “winter response,” which includes emergency beds and motel room stays, when temperature and wind chill combine to produce a “feels like” Index below 32 degrees F.

The high in Hyannis was 41 and the low was 34 on Jan. 23, so the winter response shelters did not open that night, Gray said.

The “families in shelter” count was elevated by the presence of migrant families who were being sheltered on Cape Cod at the time, Gray said.

According to the Cape Cod Times and Boston Herald, 39 migrant families were housed at the Harborside Suites in South Yarmouth under the state’s Emergency Assistance Family Shelter program from September 2023 to April 2024, when they were moved to motels in Boston and Kingston.

Massachusetts is the only state that has enacted a right to housing for pregnant women and families with small children. On Oct. 31, 2023, the state’s Sec. of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus signed a “capacity declaration” that limited the state’s provision of emergency assistance for such families to no more than 7,500 at any one time — or about 77 percent more than the state’s budgeted caseload of 4,100 families.

Susan Mazzarella, CEO of the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fall River, which runs the St. Joseph shelter in Hyannis, said that a consistent rise in homelessness on the Cape means that St. Joseph, which used to have open beds in the summer, is now almost always at capacity.

The 45-bed shelter adds 18 emergency beds during “winter response” temperatures, Mazzarella said, but there were four nights last year when even the emergency beds were full and the shelter had to turn people away.

“The only antidote to homelessness is being housed,” Mazzarella said, adding that a lack of new affordable and low-income housing units has exacerbated the crisis.

Many of the clients the Homeless Prevention Council works with are paying 50 to 60 percent of their income for rent, Luddy said. That puts them in a precarious position that makes them vulnerable to homelessness, she said, although none of the 424 families the agency served in 2023 had to enter a shelter that year, according to the HPC’s Annual Impact Report.

COUCH SURFING

For Cape Cod’s Homeless Youth, Resources Are Few

A new mid-Cape shelter will bring housing resources closer to the Outer Cape

By Olivia Oldham Feb 21, 2024

EASTHAM — For Tony, who graduated from Nauset Regional High School last May, the stress of homework was the least of his troubles.

He was one of three homeless students at the high school last year, and besides applying for college, he worked six days a week and shuffled between several temporary housing arrangements, according to Mary O’Reilly, manager of youth and young adult services at the Homeless Prevention Council (HPC). (“Tony” is not his real name; the Independent agreed to use a pseudonym to protect the student’s privacy.)

O’Reilly said that Tony was unhoused after a conflict with his parents led them to take him out of school and send him to live with relatives abroad. But that situation was unhealthy and he fled, managing to buy a plane ticket back to Massachusetts at the start of the summer.

The school year ended soon after Tony returned. He found a summer rental in Provincetown and worked two jobs — at a grocery store and at a restaurant — to cover his rent. In the fall, he re-enrolled at Nauset. But he was out of a home and went to the school adjustment counselor, Alison McLeod, for help, said O’Reilly.

“A friend of a friend of a friend” knew about a room in Eastham he could stay in for $400 a month while finishing his senior year, O’Reilly said. McLeod also connected him with O’Reilly, who initially struggled to help Tony, given that he was 17 and most youth shelter programs are restricted to those 18 and older.

When Tony turned 18 that fall, he became eligible for the HPC’s pilot Host Homes program, which pays $600 per month to cover rent for homeless young adults. That help enabled him to save his work earnings for college. He is now enrolled in college in Maine.

There are currently 11 homeless students in the Nauset Regional school system, three homeless students at the Provincetown IB Schools, and none at the Truro Central School, according to school administrators.

O’Reilly said there are few options for homeless students going to school on the Outer Cape. Most opt to couch surf — what housing specialists call “doubling up” — rather than leave the region, she added. Typically, they stay with friends or friends’ families. None of the homeless students are currently unsheltered, said O’Reilly.

For students who find themselves without a stable home, “every aspect of daily life that many take for granted is suddenly changed, with no end in sight,” said Matthew Kravitz, director of student services in the Nauset public schools.

There is no homeless shelter of any kind on the Outer Cape, let alone a youth shelter. Accompanied homeless youths are shuffled around in ad hoc housing with their families; unaccompanied minors often “navigate the system themselves,” said O’Reilly.

This summer, the Housing Assistance Corporation [HAC] will open a new family shelter in Dennis, making it the closest shelter to the Outer Cape.

The Dennis shelter will consolidate three existing family shelters run by HAC in Hyannis, Falmouth, and Bourne. The space in Hyannis will be used for youth transitional housing, with room for five people under age 25 from across the Cape and Islands.

Unsettled

Kravitz described countless difficulties that homeless students face: waking up hungry in a car or from a shaky night’s sleep on a friend’s couch, unsure if the bus the student needs to get to school is running that day. They are often distracted, anxious, or depressed during the day, unable to focus on the tasks in front of them.

According to John Morgan, a school adjustment counselor at the Provincetown IB Schools, homelessness often arises when parents lose housing. They move in with friends or “a cousin, an aunt, or a distant relative,” he said.

These students often don’t have “space to just relax or do homework,” said Morgan. “There is no respite. They’re sharing one room, sharing a bathroom. I can only imagine that family tensions are magnified.”

Student services and school adjustment counselors connect these students with donated items, check on their academic performance, and act as a liaisons with state agencies.

Nauset High students may also go to the Outer Cape Health Services navigator, Jennifer Ferron, who is stationed at the school and often refers students to the HPC.

“They’re asked to leave their communities in order to get housing,” said HPC’s O’Reilly. “Sure, you can go to Hyannis to get housing, but you lose all your supports — now they’re an hour away.”

Because most homeless young adults on the Outer Cape are sheltered, they often don’t realize they qualify for aid from the state, said O’Reilly. They assume that because they have a roof over their heads, they don’t qualify as homeless. She said there is a significant “hidden population” of homelessness here.

“Just because we don’t see them, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” said O’Reilly.

For those who choose to stay, finding public transport, affordable housing, and jobs can be extremely difficult. But “at the end of the day, if they want to stay on the Outer Cape, we’ll try to find a way to make that happen,” she said.

The New Shelter

Last October, HAC purchased 1 Love Lane, the former site of the South Dennis HealthCare nursing home, for $4.3 million.

According to HAC CEO Alisa Magnotta, the 79-family shelter in Dennis will consolidate resources and could bring advocates from the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program, the HPC, and other groups to a central meeting place.

The new five-person youth shelter in Hyannis will be part of HAC’s effort to create a safer environment for young adults and provide an alternative to the adult shelter system, Magnotta said.

“We have people aging out of foster care who have nowhere to go,” she said. “They have no family. They have nothing.”

HPC is expanding its Host Homes program to serve all of the Cape and Islands. It will offer 10 homes a monthly stipend of $800 to $1,000 to house a homeless young adult for a minimum of eight months.

Still, O’Reilly said she wishes there were a homeless shelter or youth shelter on the Outer Cape. The small year-round population and geographic isolation makes that unlikely, said state Sen. Julian Cyr.

“We probably could not sustain a shelter,” said Cyr. Instead, “we want to focus on programs that keep people in their homes and keep people from becoming homeless.”

Cyr pointed to programs that support the homeless, particularly those who use drugs. The Outer Cape Health methadone clinic and the new mobile van of the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod will help vulnerable communities by reaching them where they are, he said.

“Not only do we have homeless people living in our Cape communities, we have even more people who are housing insecure,” Cyr said. “We will see more unhoused, displaced families until we take significant steps to address the housing crisis.”

UNSHELTERED

Sleeping in the Elements in Provincetown

The nearest homeless shelter is St. Joseph House in Hyannis, more than an hour away

By Oliver Egger Jul 26, 2023

PROVINCETOWN — Mackenzie Perry, the Provincetown community support liaison for the Homeless Prevention Council (HPC), says that she works with 35 to 40 clients per month who are actively struggling with housing insecurity. She says many of her clients are living in substandard conditions or sleeping “on a couch in someone’s home, or they’re really doubled up in a house because they’re not able to find their own rental.”

Jim Amsel, an unsheltered man who lives in Provincetown. (Photo by Oliver Egger)

A handful of her clients are literally unsheltered, meaning they are sleeping “outside in places they are not allowed to sleep, based on town regulations.” She says that a lot of people don’t realize there are unsheltered people in Provincetown because “they don’t see it.”

Perry stresses that most of these unsheltered people are local and have been members of the community for years. This makes them fearful of traveling to the nearest homeless shelter, St. Joseph House in Hyannis, which is over an hour’s drive away from Provincetown, she says, adding, “Going up there to the only shelter can be a very daunting choice. So, I think a lot of people just don’t make that choice. They decide that the alternative is better for them.”

A local unsheltered man, who we’ll call Mr. M, said he has lived in Provincetown for over 53 years and has been helped “tremendously” by Perry and the HPC. “The clothes I’m wearing, you know, she made happen,” he said.

Mr. M said he lives “in the great outdoors. In the center of town — beachfront property.” He said he lives in Provincetown year-round and has been unsheltered, with a brief respite in the winter of 2022, for two and a half years.

Mr. M was formerly a builder in town, he said, but became unable to work after getting hit by a car. “I didn’t realize I was mortal until then,” he said. “I knew I could continue producing until things started happening post-surgically. I had new discs put in, artificial discs, and they ended up crumbling. So, I started trying to work a job, and all of a sudden, I’m lying on the ground because a little piece hit my sciatic nerve or my spine.”

Mr. M said that the rent on his former home was raised “50 percent by the new owner,” which led to him becoming unsheltered. He is unwilling to travel to the St. Joseph shelter in Hyannis because his medical care and his community are all in Provincetown.

“I’m looking for a tent,” he said. “I need a sleeping bag. The DPW likes to come and take things like sleeping bags and tents and throw them away. People who couch surf are part of this, too.”

Jim Amsel spends the winter in New Hampshire and the summers sleeping outdoors in Provincetown. The police have fined him, and coyotes have “overrun my camp a couple of times,” he said. “It’s very difficult to find a place to crash.” Like Mr. M, Amsel said he is not willing to go to St. Joseph in Hyannis. “There’s a lot of violence on the streets,” he said. “And Provincetown is infinitely safe, physically.”

According to Provincetown’s General Bylaw 13-2-9, it is illegal to “set up and or sleep in a camp or tent, or sleep in the open, or sleep in or on a wheeled vehicle either adapted or not for habitation on public property or on private property not licensed as a campground.” From July 2021 to the present, the Provincetown police have been called 35 times to various incidents regarding homeless encampments.

Mackenzie Perry, the Provincetown community support liaison for the Homeless Prevention Council, holds walk-in hours at the United Methodist Church at 20 Shank Painter Road on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p,m. (Photo by Georgia Hall)

These encampments are all across Provincetown. In August and September 2022 alone, police report that they were called to remove homeless people camping under a boat behind Arnold’s Bike Shop, in the bus station on Ryder Street, on benches outside town hall, near Dune’s Edge Campground, on the boat F/V Quintessence, behind the Provincetown Theater, and in the woods near “Route 6/inbound across from Howland.”

There are no reliable statistics on the number of homeless people on the Outer Cape. The most recent count by the Cape and Islands Regional Network on Homelessness, from April 15, 2022, reported that the number of homeless people on the whole of Cape Cod had increased from 343 people on Jan. 26, 2021 to 397 on Feb. 22, 2022.

Philip Franchini, chairman of the board of the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, said, “It’s definitely increased, because I see people that come every day that can’t even afford to live.”

Susan Mazzarella, CEO of the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fall River, which manages multiple shelters including St. Joseph in Hyannis, said, “The number of people who need shelter is much higher than the number of beds we have available. Our capacity is only 45.”

Mazzarella said there is a “need for another homeless shelter on the Outer Cape,” but that her organization, which, in addition to St. Joseph in Hyannis, has shelters in Taunton and New Bedford, has no plans to expand here. “These are people who have had passions and talents and loves and dreams, just like you, just like me,” she added, “and now they are in survival mode.”

State Sen. Julian Cyr said that the homelessness crisis here comes down to a “profoundly screwed-up and insufficient housing market.” A handful of Outer Cape residents hide behind “conservationism, environmentalism, and historic preservation” to block affordable housing, Cyr said, and force people off the Cape or into homelessness.

“Anyone who’s opposing housing needs to think deeply about their morals and their politics,” said Cyr. “They effectively are endorsing the ongoing housing insecurity of thousands of people and the homelessness of hundreds.”

In lieu of immediate solutions, people like Mr. M and Jim Amsel will continue living and sleeping in the outdoors. “I know how you can end your story,” Amsel said, “ ‘Jim Amsel leaves to shower at the gym.’ Because that’s what I’m doing.”

HOUSING

Students Walk Because ‘We See What’s Happening to Our Friends’

Provincetown middle-schoolers raise awareness and money at the Walk for Home

By Oliver Egger Jun 14, 2023

PROVINCETOWN — One of the major donors to the Homeless Prevention Council’s recent Walk for Home campaign was a team from the Provincetown middle school’s National Junior Honor Society.

A group photo at Provincetown Town Hall at the start of the Homeless Prevention Council’s fifth annual Walk for Home. (Photos by Oliver Egger)

“We like to help out and work towards getting change because we see what’s happening to our friends,” said Shakira Booker, a seventh-grader who, with her teammates, joined the organization’s fifth annual walk on Commercial Street on Saturday, June 10. The middle-school students attended the march with a plethora of hand-drawn signs advocating housing solutions.

Students at the event talked about friends, family members, and teachers who have experienced housing instability or had to move off Cape because of it. “It’s really upsetting because we create relationships with people,” said eighth-grader Eve Dower. “And then, just based on housing, we have to never see them again.”

Her classmate Margot Stern said, “Many of our friends have had to move way out. It’s just unacceptable when they need to go to school, and they have to travel an hour on the bus.”

“My class is doing a project about a problem we want to fix in the world,” said Provincetown fifth-grader De-Mario Ferguson. “My partner and I did homeless prevention. So that’s why we are walking.”

Provincetown seventh-grader Shakira Booker (left) and eighth-grader Eve Dower pause during the march.
[photo caption #3] Provincetown middle-school students carry signs showing their reasons for joining the walk. In front, left to right

Hadley Luddy, CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council, says she thinks it’s important for students to have the chance to say how the housing crisis affects them. “We want young people to be at the table,” Luddy said.

Teams from WOMR-FM, Saint Mary of the Harbor in Provincetown, and from Saint Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Chatham were other big contributors to the walk.

Besides being a fundraiser, the walk is meant to raise awareness about the hardest-to-see effects of housing instability on the Lower Cape. Luddy said it’s true that the lack of housing solutions is pushing Lower Cape residents further up or off the Cape altogether.

“We know that 50 percent of our workforce comes from off Cape,” said Luddy, “so our focus right now is to double down on serving the folks that are here to make sure that we’re able to keep them here.”

And while local governments and organizations have been taking steps to support the development of more affordable housing, there is little institutional support for people trying to remain in their current homes, according to Luddy.

Provincetown middle-school students carry signs showing their reasons for joining the walk. In front, left to right, Ragime Patterson, grade 7; De-Mario Ferguson, grade 5; and Margot Stern, grade 8. Behind them (and behind their own signs) are eighth-graders Natoya Hermitt and Latavia Dacres.

A broad range of people are affected by the crisis, she said. “We get call after call from people of all ages,” said Luddy, “everything from young adults who are couch surfing or sleeping in their cars to seniors who call and say, ‘I’ve lost my rental of 20 years, it’s being sold, what can I do, where can I go?’ ”

Her organization, which has been around since 1991, connects Lower Cape residents experiencing housing instability with a case manager. Last year the HPC helped 1,078 households stay in their homes, Luddy said. None had to enter a homeless shelter, she said. The nearest shelter to Provincetown, St. Joseph House in Hyannis, is more than an hour’s drive away.

The HPC ended the day a few thousand dollars short of its $60,000 fundraising goal, but Luddy said she is confident they will close that gap in the coming days.

The Walk for Home followed two roads this year, Commercial Street in Provincetown and Main Street in Chatham, said Mackenzie Perry, the Provincetown case manager for the HPC. “It’s important to see how we can all come together and support each other,” she said. “Especially the ones who might be flying under the radar. We’re here to give them a voice.”

Shakira Booker knows how to make sure others aren’t left behind. “I see what’s happening to my friends,” she said. “I put myself in their shoes, and I feel it with them.”

RESOLVED

Where to Volunteer and Connect in the New Year

From petting cats to planning events, opportunities to help abound on the Outer Cape

By The Independent Dec 28, 2022

Walter Buckingham and Sheryl Jaffe at the Wellfleet Historical Society’s Banana Bash. (Photo by Lauren Hill)

If volunteering is on your list of New Year’s resolutions, you’ll be glad to know that many local organizations are seeking people to help. The connection to others and the sense of purpose that comes with volunteering has been shown to be healthy, too. You can do something for others and for yourself by offering your skills to one of the organizations listed here. —Abraham Storer, K.C. Myers, and Edouard Fontenot

Outer Cape

Meals on Wheels, run by Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands, is in need of volunteer drivers to deliver meals to seniors in Wellfleet, Truro, Eastham, and Orleans. Training and mileage reimbursement is provided. Contact Dawn Ericson-Taylor, volunteer resource manager, at 508-394-4630 or [email protected].

Helping Our Women, a resource center for Outer Cape women living with chronic or life-threatening conditions, is looking for volunteers to take on tasks ranging from driving clients to medical appointments to making home visits, doing data entry, and helping clients with basic technology. Find out more by clicking on “Get Involved” at helpingourwomen.org or by calling 508-487-4357.

Homeless Prevention Council is based in Orleans and helps people from Harwich to Provincetown take steps to keep their housing and attain financial independence. The volunteer positions listed on its website include general office support, marketing and development, events, and even landscaping at the office. To learn more and apply, go to “Get Involved” at hpccapecod.org or call 508-255-9667.

Provincetown

AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod has community members helping with administrative duties, food delivery, and events. There is a strong group of volunteers now, but new people are always welcome. Volunteers are free to commit as little or as much time as they want. To learn more, contact the office at 508-487-9445.

Dixie Carter is one of the cats at CASAS who needs a home. (Photo by Nancy Bloom)

CASAS, the Carrie A. Seaman Animal Shelter, is a no-kill shelter currently housing nine cats. The shelter has an all-volunteer staff. “We have some lovely cats that need some attention,” says Anita Butler, a full-time volunteer. The shelter is cage-free and volunteers are needed to sit with cats, brush them, and scoop boxes. Prospective volunteers should stop by during visiting hours (daily from 2 to 3:30 p.m.) to fill out an application. Information can be found at casasanimalshelter.org or by calling 508-487-4243.

The Council on Aging in Provincetown is always looking for volunteers, according to Chris Hottle, the director. “I like to match volunteers with what they want to do,” she says. “Some volunteers are here every day and some are on call as needed.” Some 40 volunteers work in the meals program, teach classes, and help with over 175 other programs and services over the course of the year. Hottle meets in person with potential volunteers. She can be reached at 508-487-7080 or at [email protected].

Provincetown Art Association and Museum likes to match volunteers with projects that use their skills. Currently opportunities are available for people to distribute flyers for the museum school, reorganize archives, install member exhibitions, and help with drop-off and pick-up days. Interested candidates should contact Lesley Marchessault, PAAM’s development officer, at 508-487-1750, ext. 112 or follow the “Support” link at paam.org.

Truro

Truro Historical Museum and the Cobb Archive have many year-round opportunities for volunteers interested in the history of the town and region. Although the museum is closed in the off season, archival work continues and volunteers catalog wills, deeds, newspaper articles, and photographs that document the history of the town. The archive welcomes and trains volunteers to help organize holdings. Some winter volunteers become greeters or docents come summer. Currently the archive has a need for photographers to help with visual cataloging of museum collections and a technical person who can set up a new Wi-Fi network. To volunteer, contact museum staff at [email protected].

Truro Community Kitchen fights food insecurity in Truro by delivering free, nourishing home-cooked meals to those who need them. Winter volunteers are urgently needed to help with the preparation and packaging of food in the community kitchen at the Christian Union Church from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Tuesday. Food delivery drivers are also needed on Tuesday afternoons. To volunteer, write to Wendy Lurie, [email protected], or call 973-868-7526.

Sustainable CAPE supports local agriculture and farmers and combats hunger and food insecurity by donating fresh-picked fruits and vegetables on the Outer Cape. Volunteer possibilities include gardening with the team and making deliveries for the CSA program. To become a volunteer, go to “Get Involved” at sustainablecape.org.

Carolina Marseglia volunteers at the Truro Swap Shop. (Photo by Nancy Bloom)

Truro Swap Shop, located at the transfer station, is the town’s best place for repurposing unwanted items and keeping them out of the waste stream. It is in dire need of volunteers. Application materials are online at the Truro town website, truro-ma.gov, where you can click on the button for “Transfer Station” then choose “Swap Shop Volunteer.” Nancy Fenichel can help interested volunteers apply. Call her at 508-349-2591.

Friends of the Truro Library are always looking for volunteers to assist library staff in keeping the library running smoothly. Volunteers’ skills go to event planning, staffing book sales, library work, publicity, presentations, and lectures. For the library’s current needs, contact Director Tricia Ford at 508-487-1125 or [email protected].

The Food Pantry is looking for new volunteers to join its community of pantry helpers. For information or to volunteer, contact Barbara Bond at [email protected] or 617-515-4342.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article, published in print on Dec. 29, 2022, incorrectly reported that the Cobb Library in Truro was closed for the winter. It is open Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Wellfleet

AIM Thrift Shop is volunteer-run and open year-round, six days a week, except for the month of February. Proceeds benefit local nonprofits that provide health, food, and other social services. The thrift store lost a lot of volunteers during Covid, and they’re hoping to rebuild their ranks, says Jim McAuliffe, a board member. Volunteers are asked to work at least one three-hour shift a week. Interested candidates can get an application at the shop at 305 Main St.

Mass Appeal has a mission of providing free clothing to residents of the Outer Cape. Its Share Shop is staffed by volunteers who unpack donations, sort clothing, and assist customers. To become a volunteer, call 508-349-1173 or go to ccmassappeal.org and click on “Support Us” to send a message.

246 Community Kitchen’s volunteer teams prepare meals all winter on Mondays and Tuesdays. The meals are currently packaged for pickup, but they plan to return to community meals later in the winter. This winter’s teams are pretty well staffed, but those interested in helping should call Amy Carow at 908-377-0677; she says 246 always has room for enthusiastic volunteers.

The Wellfleet Food Pantry at Grace Chapel provides food to more than 150 families. Volunteers are needed to staff the pantry and serve shoppers. The time commitment can be as little as two hours per month. If interested, contact 508-349-3036 or send a message via the website, wellfleetfoodpantry.org.

The Audubon sanctuary in Wellfleet is open year-round. (Photo by Agata Storer)

Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities depending on the season. At this time of year they are seeking front desk volunteers. “It’s one of the most interesting and challenging positions,” says Director Melissa Lowe Cestaro. You’ll field questions about everything from trail conditions, wildlife, and where to go to eat, she says. Ideally a volunteer would take a three-hour shift once a week.

Volunteers for the sea turtle rescue program underway now are recruited and trained in the fall. In the spring, there will be training for volunteer naturalists to lead guided walks, protect diamondback terrapins, or help with a horseshoe crab census. See massaudubon.org and click on “Get Involved” or call the sanctuary at 508-349-2615.

Wellfleet Historical Society is looking for history buffs to join in a wide range of opportunities in grant research and writing, photography, gardening and landscaping, education, conducting oral histories, and fundraising. Schedules are flexible and “there’s something for everyone,” according to the website. Choose “Get Involved” at wellfleethistoricalsociety.org or email coordinator Sheryl Jaffe, [email protected].

Eastham

The Eastham Council on Aging seeks volunteers to be greeters at the senior center as well as activities organizers for the meals, events, and other programs offered there. Phone 774-801-3151 for information. People who have a mind for retail may also help at the thrift shop. For information on that, call 508-255-6164.

Wild Care attends to sick and wounded small wild animals. The staff is always looking for help cleaning the clinic, which includes disinfecting animal cages, washing dishes, doing laundry, and washing floors. A three-hour shift one day per week for a minimum of six months and attendance at a monthly meeting in Brewster is required. Volunteers are also needed to help with fundraising and events. For more information, email [email protected].

Nauset Warriors Booster Club at Nauset Regional High School depends on volunteers to raise funds for sports equipment, transportation, and other expenses that allow students to participate in sports without paying any fees. Volunteers work at the concession stand at games and tournaments. The minimum time commitment is two to three hours a season. Community members and students are invited to sign up. Contact volunteer coordinator K.C. Myers at [email protected] or learn more at nausetboosters.com.

The Windmill Weekend Committee’s president, Joanna Stevens, said her group has already started planning for Windmill Weekend in September 2023. The committee needs a chairperson to organize the road race, co-chairs for the raffle and car show, and a volunteer merchandising coordinator. These positions require attendance at monthly planning meetings throughout the year. Alternatively, you can volunteer just for the weekend itself. There’s a Windmill Weekend volunteer recruitment event at the Eastham Public Library on Feb. 2, 2023, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. or email [email protected].

INSECURITY

Behind the Housing Crisis, Anxiety

Homeless Prevention Council case managers find ‘no solutions’

By Ben Glickman and Cam Blair Aug 11, 2021

EASTHAM — Allie Dubois and her family had been renting their house in Eastham for almost four years when their landlord decided to take advantage of the booming real estate market and sell. Since getting this news in May, she’s searched for a new place to live every day, to no avail.

After all her searching, Dubois said, “I have not found one acceptable place for my family to live.” She said there’s not one house selling for less than $500,000, and the lowest rent she’s been able to find is $2,000 per month. “That could be a mortgage,” she said. “It’s a constant, crippling undercurrent of anxiety. I can never not think about it.”

Dubois, who lives with her husband and 14-year-old son, has lived on the Cape for over a decade. She has what she calls a “Cape Cod career,” working as a waitress, seamstress, landscaper, and, prior to the pandemic, after-school art teacher. It’s always been hard to find housing here, she said. It took the family eight months to find their Eastham rental four years ago. Today, said Dubois, the task seems impossible.

Hadley Luddy, CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council (HPC), a Cape organization that provides case management and rental assistance to people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, said her office is hearing more and more stories like Dubois’s.

In the first three months of 2021 alone, HPC served the same number of people as it did in the last six months of 2020. And 2020 was already a year of unprecedented need, with HPC cases up 25 percent from 2019, Luddy told the Independent in June.

Luddy has had to tell a growing number of clients that there are simply no available rentals. “It’s really difficult for a case management team to have no solutions,” she said.

If year-round housing continues to disappear at its present rate, Luddy said the situation “will get worse, to the point where we don’t have a workforce at all to draw from.”

The community is aware of the housing crisis, and asking for change, but if you’re among the displaced, solutions come too slowly. (Photo Cam Blair)

The owner of Dubois’s rental house has found a buyer, with the closing date set for Sept. 20. Dubois has hired a lawyer in an effort to delay their ultimate departure by a few months. By then, Dubois hopes to have found a new spot, but based on how the search has gone so far, that might be easier said than done.

Tina Camino, who has lived in Provincetown since 2003, had been renting from a friend for nearly a year when she was forced to leave on June 16 because the house was sold. Camino was without housing for nearly two months, staying with friends for short periods and spending time with her ill father in Pennsylvania. She moved into an apartment on Shank Painter Road last week.

Camino last had stable housing in 2018. She was in the same apartment, which she rented from a friend and his husband, for four years. Camino left the apartment because of a pervasive mold problem. The mold made her sick, she said, but she hesitated to raise the issue with the owner because she feared she would be kicked out. After she did raise the issue to the owner and he downplayed it, she decided she needed to stay somewhere else until the mold problem was fixed. The owner told her not to come back.

“You’re living in a place where you’re scared to tell the landlord what’s going on because of the housing crisis,” she said. “I was always afraid that something was going to happen.”

The situation has gotten noticeably worse since Camino moved to Provincetown nearly two decades ago, she said. Back then, it was much easier to find housing for the winter and summer. The change is frustrating to Camino, and, she said, the people who will suffer most are the workers.

“It’s almost like no one cares,” Camino said. Summer people “want to be here and be served,” she said, but she wonders what will happen when there’s no one to serve them “because the workers have nowhere to stay.”

Dubois agreed with Camino: “What are the haves going to do when there’s no more have-nots?”

WALK FOR HOME 2021

HPC Finds Unprecedented Housing Insecurity

Provincetown’s middle-school students join the walk: ‘I have seen people struggle’

By Ben Glickman and Cam Blair Jun 23, 2021

PROVINCETOWN — As eighth-grader CJ Reid marched down Commercial Street through the West End of Provincetown, he explained his view of the root cause of homelessness on the Cape: housing is just too expensive.

CJ Reid, a Provincetown Schools National Junior Honor Society student who lives in Provincetown, walked to raise awareness about the need for housing. (Photos Cameron Blair)

As he walked, Reid talked about how hard it can be living year-round in a pricey vacation destination: “You don’t see a lot of housing targeted for middle- and lower-class people.” Stepping onto the sidewalk and out of the way of an approaching Mercedes-Benz, Reid added, “Lots of upper-class people don’t realize that.”

Reid was not alone in his concern about homelessness: 14 middle schoolers from the Provincetown Schools and about 85 others marched on the morning of June 12 in the Homeless Prevention Council’s annual Walk for Home.

In the weeks leading up to the event, the students helped raise money to support HPC’s programs to fight homelessness and housing insecurity on Cape Cod. Twenty-one fundraising teams raised a total of $47,000, according to HPC CEO Hadley Luddy.

HPC, founded in 1991, helps people experiencing homelessness with services such as case management and rental assistance. The organization’s 30th birthday comes at a moment of worsening homelessness and housing insecurity on the Cape.

In 2020, the HPC helped 1,985 people, 25 percent more than in 2019. Of those helped last year, 754 (or 38 percent) were from the four Outer Cape towns. According to 2019 estimates from the Census Bureau, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown make up only 27 percent of the population of the eight towns served by HPC. This suggests that Outer Cape residents have disproportionately felt the effects of the Cape’s housing crisis.

With little available housing and rents rising, Luddy said it’s crucial to keep people housed in the “fragile” stock that remains. For those who have already been displaced, she said, “there’s really nowhere to go.” The situation, she said, is “unlike anything we have ever seen.”

The procession of walkers was eager to grab the attention of shoppers and diners in downtown Provincetown. Wearing T-shirts with hearts on them and carrying homemade signs, they were met with approving claps and an occasional cheer as they made their way from town hall to Pilgrim’s First Landing Park and back — a 2.2-mile trot.

The student walkers were all part of the Provincetown Schools National Junior Honor Society and carried posters about what home means to them. The honor society’s fundraising team raised more than $2,000. According to Provincetown teacher and honor society adviser Amy Rokicki, several students in the school have experienced homelessness or housing insecurity.

Marchers took a break on a town hall bench. From left, Nelly Reyes Cruz is peeking from behind a sign, next to Haley Jackson; CJ Reid is behind his sign, then Emma Enos, Andres Vida, Caroline Lovati Brown, and Cole Scott-Tunstall. We’re not sure who is hiding behind the signs on the far right.

Derek Reyes, a 7th-grader from Eastham, held a sign that read, “I walk because every family needs personal happiness.” Reyes said he wanted to participate in the march because he had seen the suffering others endured when experiencing homelessness, both when he lived in Mexico as a child and in Provincetown.

“I have seen people struggle to find a home,” he said.

Other walkers participated because of the experiences of friends and neighbors. Dana Hope of Provincetown walked as part of the Rev. Jim Cox Team, which honored the Provincetown Methodist Church pastor who died in 2019.

“I know too many people who have been squeezed out,” Hope said. “Working people, people with two or three jobs.” The rising costs of living on the Outer Cape mean that many longtime residents she knows are moving away for good.

Sheryl Souza, who was also on the Rev. Jim Cox Team, praised the work that HPC does, but acknowledged the scope of the housing problem on the Outer Cape.

“They try,” Souza said. “But they can’t make homes.”

WELL-BEING

Provincetown Outlines Extensive Mental Health Plan

Pot impact fees could fund $500K response to community needs

By Paul Benson Feb 10, 2021

chart — The cost breakdown of each item in the five-year mental health and substance use disorder plan, as presented to the Provincetown Select Board. (Source: Provincetown Health Dept.)

PROVINCETOWN — Health Director Morgan Clark presented a five-year plan to the select board last month that aims to dramatically increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment. The plan starts small, with new support groups and microgrants, but its biggest feature is one or two full-time mental health clinicians who would be available on short notice to town residents. These clinicians would serve as a kind of bridge, providing free and ready access to mental health care until individuals could be set up with a long-term therapist or caregiver.

“I think most people know this, but I’m going to say it,” said Clark. “There are very long wait-lists for almost all of our mental health clinicians here. This would be eliminating that barrier to almost immediate care.

“This person would be able to see locals, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay,” she added. “It would be like a stopgap — you could see them until you could get into a relationship with a longer-term mental health clinician.”

These clinicians would not be town employees; instead, the town would contract for their work through grant agreements, and an organization with medical capacity would supervise. The arrangement would be structured like that of Provincetown’s community support liaison, Alex Juchniewich, who is an employee of the Homeless Prevention Council, but who exclusively serves Provincetown residents. The mental health clinicians would not be replacing or duplicating that capacity, Clark said.

“This is not looking to supplant the behavioral health wing of Outer Cape Health Services,” said Clark. “It’s recognizing, though, that their clinicians are almost always holding a waitlist.” She said the plan was developed with stakeholders including OCHS, Helping Our Women, and the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod. “We all see this need,” she said.

“Government can’t solve all problems — I agree with that,” said Clark. “But if the marketplace were solving this, we would have 35 therapists here. I think we can spend money to solve a little bit of this problem.”

Members of the select board largely complimented the plan. Chair Dave Abramson asked how the plan might interact with the town’s new marijuana tax revenue.

“That’s an administration question, but I will say, that’s where this plan came from,” said Clark. “All the departments were asked by then-Town Manager Panagore, several years ago, ‘What would you do with this money?’ ” There are other departments working on plans, too, Clark noted.

“The host community agreement fee, the impact fee that the town collects from dispensaries — that’s the pot of money we have to use for things like substance use programs, mental health programs, public safety,” said Assistant Town Manager David Gardner. “The marijuana tax itself, the local option tax,” he explained, “that’s just general revenue.”

The Independent asked Gardner afterwards about the mental health plan and the new revenue. “I would say the need already existed,” Gardner said. “The ideas of how to meet the need already existed.” But the community impact fees from cannabis dispensaries, he said, “certainly help us get to the point where we may be able to respond.”

“We definitely have a need for this kind of thing,” said select board member John Golden after Clark’s presentation. Golden said he saw the plan as “a way of taking some of the burden off of police, so they’re not doing social work they’re not equipped for.”

“It’s a lot of money,” said Abramson. But, he added, “it’s also an investment in the community, in terms of turning peoples’ lives around. It would be exciting to be able to fully fund it.”

SOCIAL SERVICES

Who to Call if You Need Help

There’s a network of support for those in need

By Paul Benson Mar 26, 2020

PROVINCETOWN — Both the lives and finances of many on the Outer Cape have been rapidly undone by the coronavirus. With movement restricted and the economy at a halt, new and unpredicted stresses arise each day.

A network of social service agencies can offer help. There is help with groceries, bills, rides to appointments, counselors to talk to, even specialists who help people navigate all that help.

The Homeless Prevention Council of Cape Cod is set up to help people keep their housing — by getting assistance before things fall apart.

“There are so many people that are just one paycheck away, or one terrible situation away, from disaster,” said Hadley Luddy, the council’s executive director. “We assess someone’s entire situation — not just housing — and help match people to different kinds of support.”

“People are calling a bunch of different places, trying to survive and feel secure,” said Maggi Flanagan, a case manager at H.P.C. “The thing to do is be connected with a particular agency — maybe it’s the council on aging, maybe a veterans’ group — whichever would be the appropriate lead in hooking up with services, so you’re not making 500 calls and getting discouraged.”

Every town’s council on aging has a mandate to help people over 60 navigate the web of services. “Seniors can call us for anything,” said Chris Hottle, director of the Provincetown Council on Aging. “We know who can provide things. It’s much easier than trying to get out there into the system yourself.”

Helping Our Women and the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod also help clients across the Cape access a range of resources. Provincetown also has a community support liaison, Alex Juchniewich, whom anyone in the town may call.

There’s a wide range of help available. Food aid comes from the Lower Cape Outreach Council, various food pantries, meal providers such as the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown and Meals on Wheels, food stamps, and more. There can be cash assistance for rent, utilities, home heating, or medical expenses. Many programs help with transportation, by offering rides with volunteers or taxis. There is also counseling and support on every subject from raising young children to arranging end-of-life affairs.

Support chart — A directory of support on the Outer Cape

A significant gap has recently opened up in the area of child care. A week after the state closed schools, Gov. Charlie Baker gave the order to close all licensed child care facilities as well. The state is working out an exception for the children of health care workers, but for most people, licensed, professional child care is temporarily not an option.

“What’s probably happening now is a lot of informal care networks, neighbors helping neighbors — and that’s just a really hard position to be in,” said Cindy Horgan, executive director of the nonprofit Cape Cod Children’s Place. “Right now, we are still here answering calls, if someone needs diapers, food, or emotional support. Working from home with your young children can feel very overwhelming.”

Many of these organizations also host recovery groups, most of which are now moving online. All of them serve clients regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, according to Morgan Clark, Provincetown’s health director.

Some new networks are also forming to address the specific burdens of this contagion. A quarantined person, or a vulnerable person who is minimizing exposure, could have money for groceries but no way to get them. A trip to the post office or the laundromat, even walking the dog, becomes a challenge.

The Provincetown COVID-19 Task Force organized itself only a week ago to help with these issues, and it quickly established a working relationship with the Cape Cod Medical Reserve Corps. Both will help retired medical professionals volunteer their expertise.

Don’t wait until an emergency occurs. Now is the time to reach out — to receive help, to offer help, or both.