Press Room

BAY RIDGE – On this day after over-stuffed Thanksgiving dinners when recession-minded consumers began their annual pre-Christmas holiday shopping sprees, the homeless have no choice but trying to survive without the resources that many enjoy.

Even a secure, prosperous and pleasant middle-class community like Bay Ridge has a homeless population as well as people who are in need of basic necessities. Some homeless people sit dozing at or outside the 95th Street R subway station or on a bench at the Third Avenue and Senator Street triangular park.

At a recent Community Board 10 meeting, a revealing report on how this community works together to help its indigenous homeless citizens highlighted the workings of that relationship.

“The homeless in our community are from our community,” said Chair Susan Pulaski of the board’s Police and Public Safety Committee at the board meeting at the Norwegian Christian Home. That information emerged from a committee meeting that included the city Department of the Homeless Services, the nonprofit Common Ground’s Street-to-Home Brooklyn Outreach Team and 68th Precinct community affairs police officers.

Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann provided the precinct with 11 homeless sites. Pulaski said, “The areas are all along Third and Fifth avenues [two major commercial stripes]; Brady’s Hole; under roadway overpasses; park triangles; mostly small parks but large parks as well; some subway stations; and some commercial storefronts.”

By relating how the components work together and personal stories of dealing with specific homeless situations, Pulaski said a clear picture emerged. “Common Ground is a pioneer in the development of supportive housing and other research-based practices that end homelessness. They have a network of well designed affordable apartments and are linked to services to help these people maintain their housing, restore their health and regain their economic independence.”

During winter Common Ground and the Homeless Services Department use a Code Blue procedure. The homeless are checked about every two hours when temperatures drop below freezing or with wind chills of at least 20 degrees. A vulnerability index is gauges those who have been homeless the longest and those most exposed with disabling health conditions.

The outreach service staff works 24 hours around the clock, Pulaski told the board. Homeless people are interviewed and presented with a resources list. A case management service is also available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays providing temporary or permanent housing, psychiatric evaluation and medical services.

The Homeless Are Given Choices

When told that there are homeless shelters available, many people chose not to go, noted Pulaski. “They want to maintain their autonomy and independence which disappears when they enter a shelter.” The new alternative the city created is making places available through the Safe Havens program, a mayoral initiative.

“Safe Havens have no rules and no curfews,” said Pulaski. “Homeless people still remain on the street while they are being processed through the system. It takes a while to build a report and to convince these individuals to accept placement. These agencies work with the Transportation, Sanitation, Parks and Police departments.”

Community boards and 311 are used as sources to identify concentrations of homeless people. In Brooklyn a new Safe Haven equipped with 55 beds is scheduled to open at the beginning of January in East New York.

Of the cooperative endeavors of the homeless resources, community boards and police, Pulaski said, “Through the good work of these groups there has been a two-thirds drop over the last four years of homeless in Brooklyn and Queens.”