Community Housing Innovations

In light of the deaths of three homeless people in the streets of Nassau County, apparently due to exposure to winter temperatures, CHI Executive Director Alexander Roberts called for a policy that would compel mentally ill homeless people to go inside in extreme weather. Here is his Op-Ed article that appeared in Newsday.

For the homeless, safety must supersede freedom
BY ALEXANDER H. ROBERTS
Alexander H. Roberts is executive director of Community Housing Innovations Inc., a nonprofit organization providing housing for homeless families and individuals on Long Island and in Westchester.
February 21, 2008

The deaths of three homeless men on Long Island likely would have been avoided last week if police were allowed to force people living on the street into a temporary shelter in the freezing weather.

In a free society, we must be leery of laws that protect people against themselves, but the New York City model of temporarily confining people whose choices pose an imminent threat to their survival, and who appear to be mentally ill, has withstood the test of time. We don't hear much any more about homeless people freezing to death on city streets.

The deaths in Hicksville, Merrick and West Hempstead reminded me of a case that transfixed New Yorkers in 1987, when a homeless mentally ill woman challenged her involuntary confinement to Bellevue Hospital. Joyce Brown, who called herself "Billie Boggs," had been living over a steam grate. While she presented little danger to others, her occasional incoherence, running into traffic and defecation on herself gave proof enough to the city that she needed to be hospitalized.

The New York Civil Liberties Union protested that she was "a political prisoner" who should be allowed to practice the lifestyle she wanted. But psychiatrists described her as schizophrenic and a danger to herself.

Billie Boggs eventually won her release after a judge agreed that she could not be forced to take antipsychotic drugs. But her illness eventually brought her back to the streets for a time, where she was arrested for fighting, harassing passersby and drug possession, raising the question: How competent was she really to make judgments about her own safety?

When 49-year-old George Baldwin was found dead last week on a West Hempstead street, apparently from exposure, it was one day after he had told a television interviewer that he'd rather stay in the cold than in a homeless shelter. Baldwin raised the canard of the shelter as "dangerous."

That was definitely true in the barrack-style shelters of the 1980s. But crime is virtually non-existent in today's shelters, which stress treatment that allows people to quickly move into permanent housing.

Based upon anecdotal reports from his friends, Baldwin was an alcoholic whose drinking would not have been allowed in a shelter. But Nassau has a program called "Warm Bed," which Baldwin utilized in the past, that will pick up anyone who calls a helpline and place them in a shelter or motel for the night.

In Suffolk, welfare motels have been replaced with small shelters. With 24-hour supervision, three to five homeless families living together receive services to address health or domestic issues and find permanent housing. This model has been a major factor in reducing the rate of homelessness. Recently, Nassau County has moved in a similar direction.

By all accounts, Baldwin chose to endanger his life because his judgment was impaired. At the least, society must err on the side of caution in very cold weather and provide involuntary shelter. Nassau and Suffolk must enact legislation that authorizes police to impinge upon personal liberty in the interest of saving lives, when those lives are in imminent danger.

Eight years ago, Burton Aldrich’s life changed forever. Standing under the moon in an open field while supervising a Bible camp youth retreat, he sensed a major challenge approaching. And yet, surrounded by his wife, children and friends, he felt completely at ease. One week later, he dived into his backyard pool after a long hot day at work, and suffered an accident that left him a C-6, C-7 quadriplegic.

“I had lost my whole way of life,” Aldrich has written. “Everything I did, I did with my hands. I worked with my hands as a mechanic, carpenter, and maintenance supervisor of a textile mill with two plants. I was an active, well no, crazy skier. I was a lover who cherished in pleasing my wife. Now here I was legs, arms and hands not working, and my wife leaving me for my best friend.”

And for a while, Aldrich was lost in darkness. For six years, he lived at the Northeast Center for Special Care, a trauma center located in Lake Katrine, New York, and he struggled to adjust to an entirely new way of living. It was during this time that he discovered writing as a cathartic experience, specifically poetry inspired by nature and the theme: “from the darkness, into the light.”

Two years ago, Aldrich’s life changed again when he became a tenant of Community Housing Innovations and found himself once again living independently, in the light. He moved into a new model of supportive housing in Ulster County, in which a competitive per diem rate for a family in emergency housing is used to subsidize the rent for a second apartment for permanent tenants. The per diem the county pays is no higher than what it would pay for the same family in a homeless shelter or welfare motel. This model is uniquely suited to the suburbs because the program is located in two-family homes near public transportation.

Community Housing Innovations’ program is based upon the HUD Family Self-Sufficiency model that is designed using an “Opportunity Contract” to establish goals and to identify steps to reach those goals. It outlines the mutually agreed upon responsibilities of the participant and the CHI staff person, as they work together to implement an Independent Living Plan.

Aldrich, who pays $350 per month, along with another formerly homeless tenant, truly appreciates his home, which has a private backyard, two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and an accessible bathroom; but he also appreciates the positive and friendly attitude of the staff at Community Housing Innovations: his case manager, Patricia Galligan, and Scott Mendelson, CHI’s Program Coordinator. “It’s so nice dealing with people who are really nice and helpful,” Aldrich explained. “I like that I can take advantage of Patricia’s expertise as my case manager. I don’t bother her too much but she’s there if I need her.”

Dedicating his life to helping others, Aldrich is on the Board of Kingston’s Resource Center for Accessible Living and volunteers two days a week at his old residence, the Northeast Center for Special Care. He teaches poetry, art and meditation, while inspiring others to recognize the potential in their own lives. “It’s waking up to the life that we have and it’s all a choice of attitude,” he stated. “It’s hard and it hurts sometimes, but it’s a choice of attitude.”

Community Housing Innovations’ Rosemary Dehlow
takes the "Peconic Plunge" to help Long Island’s homeless

On February 9th, while most people were bundled up in winter clothes and tucked inside their heated homes, Rosemary Dehlow, the Long Island Director of Community Housing Innovations, Inc. took the Peconic Plunge, jumping into the frigid waters of the Peconic Bay at Veteran’s Park in Mattituck in order to raise money in support of Long Island’s homeless. The event called “Give Your Heart to the Homeless,” was a fundraising benefit for Maureen’s Haven, a not-for-profit outreach program under the auspices of the Peconic Community Council, Inc. Dehlow is also a Board Member of the Council.

Both Community Housing Innovations, Inc. and Maureen’s Haven address the needs of Long Island’s homeless population, but they focus on different aspects of the continuum of care. Envisioned by Sister Maureen Michael, Maureen’s Haven provides emergency shelter, including a warm place to sleep, clothing, prescriptions, toiletries and counseling, within East End churches from November 1st through April 1st, for individuals who are not yet part of the social services system. The goal is to encourage these individuals into shelters and centers where they can receive more permanent assistance and essential medical care for problems that include drug abuse and mental illness. Serving an average of 27 homeless people each night, this is the sixth winter that Maureen’s Haven has been in operation.

Once they are in the system, Community Housing Innovations, Inc. helps people along the remainder of the continuum. “We address every aspect of the problem of homelessness,” Dehlow explained. “We have services that range from temporary emergency housing, into permanent affordable housing and even help with first-time home ownership. Because we own actual brick-and-mortar homes, we are able to provide permanent affordable housing opportunities and creative solutions.”

CHI Executive Director Alexander Roberts was invited to share his ideas on federal housing policy along with other distinguished experts in a special insert in Affordable Housing Finance. Roberts stated:

“Affordable housing policy should be linked to comprehensive land-use reform under the umbrella of “smart growth.” By linking sustainable development principles, such as greater density in the downtowns, increased mass transit, walkable communities, affordable housing and energy efficiency, many interests join forces to advance a common goal.”

To read more of the special feature, which included other experts, such as Bart Harvey, former chairman of Enterprise Community Partners, Congressman Barney Frank, and Michael Bodaken, President of the National Housing Trust.

CHI to Appear at Westchester’s County’s Affordable Housing Expo on March 8th

The Westchester County Affordable Housing Expo brings together a wealth of resources for the homebuyer, from realtors, to nonprofit counseling organizations, to New York State housing agencies. It’s the place to be for people looking to buy and maintain a home. CHI will have a booth, so stop by!

A free community workshop for Westchester residents who need grant money to repair their home is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5th at 2 pm at the John C. Hart Memorial Library in Shub Oak. It’s sponsored by The Preservation Company, a local Westchester nonprofit housing organization.