The homeless shelter population in Syracuse has decreased by about one-third over the past six years, but there is still a great need for services in the city — particularly during the winter months.

The Syracuse shelter network has about 400 beds now compared to the 600 in 2010, said Paul Driscoll, commissioner of the Syracuse Department of Neighborhood and Business Development. The decrease in beds reflects increased efforts to move people into permanent housing.

But Syracuse still has a population of unsheltered homeless who face life-threatening temperatures when living outdoors. In Syracuse, there are typically 20 to 25 unsheltered homeless people during the summer and about five during the winter, Driscoll said.

In order to get homeless people off the streets during the winter, New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January issued an executive order that requires local governments to bring unsheltered homeless into a shelter if the temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

If the person resists, the order utilizes section 9.41 of the Mental Hygiene Law to get them off the street. The law states that any person who appears to be mentally ill or may cause harm to themselves or others may be detained and brought to shelter. But resisting shelter does not qualify a person as having a mental illness, according to the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services.

Syracuse does not subscribe to Cuomo’s policy, Driscoll said, because the city does not want to criminalize homelessness.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, along with the Syracuse Police Department, concluded forcibly moving unsheltered people into shelter would backfire, Driscoll said. Doing so may relocate homeless people further from the center of Syracuse to rural areas where they cannot be monitored as closely. Forcing them into shelter could also diminish the trust built between the police and the homeless, he said.

“There is an informal balance between law enforcement and the unsheltered homeless that we want to keep in tact,” Driscoll said. “If we start criminalizing that, they will run away and might hurt themselves even more.”

Syracuse was recognized for its efforts to decriminalize homelessness by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. The city was named to the “Hall of Fame” in the center’s November report.

Instead of forcing the shelter-averse indoors during the winter months, Syracuse relies on street outreach programs to keep the homeless safe year-round. Two prominent outreach teams in Syracuse are the Rescue Mission and In My Father’s Kitchen. The program workers attempt to bring the shelter-averse indoors, but if they do not want to go to a shelter, workers will provide them with food, coats and blankets.

This was the case for Steve Clemens. Sixteen months ago, Clemens was living on the streets of Syracuse. He had been homeless on and off for five to seven years — staying with friends or family, bouncing in and out of shelters and staying on the streets. He would tough out the winter months for as long as he could until the harsh weather forced him to go to a shelter.

While living on the streets, Clemens was visited by John Tumino, founder of the outreach program In My Father’s Kitchen. It took two years for Clemens to finally trust Tumino.

“When you’re homeless, depending on your circumstances, you really don’t have any trust in anybody because of the situation you’re in,” Clemens said.

Tumino later helped Clemens through rehabilitation for his legs, which he’d lost feeling in due to his battle with alcoholism. While Clemens was in rehab, Tumino was able to connect him with Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare to arrange housing. In October, Clemens, now 56, was financially stable enough to move into his own apartment.

Clemens gives back to the community by joining Tumino in his outreach program. He tells his success story with the hopes of inspiring the homeless population of Syracuse, some of whom are friends of his from the time he spent on the street.

“I just feel the need to … make sure (the homeless) know they are worthy of something, they aren’t being judged all of the time,” Clemens said. “That’s what people do, they tend to judge instead of realizing what happens in people’s lives.”

The success of outreach programs has led to a decline in the number of unsheltered homeless living in Syracuse during the winter, Tumino said. Two years ago, Tumino counted six people living outdoors during the winter, and so far, he hasn’t seen any this winter.

The snow is an ally to outreach programs, Tumino said, as it drives people to seek shelter or reach out to get help.

Last winter, there was a definite increase in the utilization of shelter and food services in Syracuse, said Melissa Marrone, the coordinator of the Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York. Oftentimes, there was standing room only at the Rescue Mission day program, she said.

A nationwide Point In Time count is held each January to count the number of unsheltered homeless people, Marrone said.

The PIT count serves to keep track of how Syracuse is dealing with their homeless population from year to year in comparison to cities across the United States. It’s also used to compile demographics of the homeless in order to figure out what kind of funding the city needs, Marrone said.

In January’s PIT count, Syracuse had seven people living outdoors, Marrone said, which is one fewer than in 2015. Oswego County had around 13. Marrone attributes this difference to the successful outreach programs in Syracuse, which Oswego County does not have.

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It is not uncommon for a homeless person to choose to live on the streets rather than in a shelter. Shelters are not ideal, Driscoll said, as people walking by while you’re asleep could theoretically take your stuff.

Clemens witnessed a few people die in shelters and after that, decided he would not return.

“I saw one guy get stabbed in the shower,” Clemens said. “He came out and he bled out on the floor at the end of my buddy’s bed. That was one.”

He also noted the prominent drug use in shelters and their horrible smell — they reek of feet and butt, he said.

The Rescue Mission shelter has a policy that prohibits anyone under the influence of alcohol or drugs to stay there, said Kendall Slee, Rescue Mission Alliance communications specialist. They have staff that monitor for substance abuse to try to be aware of any issues happening in the shelter. Challenges community members face tend to become concentrated in shelters, Slee said.

General population shelters typically consist of the chronically homeless — adult men who are dually diagnosed with substance abuse and mental health issues — which is the hardest sub-population to deal with, Driscoll said. He described those shelters as a place where “you really kind of have to look out for yourself.”

Driscoll said whatever issue led the person to the shelter cannot be resolved while in the shelter, whether it is substance abuse, domestic violence or mental health issues. This is why Syracuse adopted the Housing First method — the goal is to get the person in a safe place and then work on their individual issues, he said.

Within each shelter in Syracuse, there are caseworkers known as rapid re-housers. They focus on placing women, children and elderly into permanent housing the day after they stay in a shelter. Caseworkers meet with the homeless and go to the Onondaga County Department of Social Services to ensure they are receiving benefits they are entitled to, such as food stamps and public assistance for housing, Driscoll said.

The Housing and Homeless Coalition also works to prevent homelessness at the front end, Marrone said. They look at evictions and those who are struggling with their utility bills, and try to make sure those people are maintaining their housing. More funding is being directed toward permanent housing rather than the shelter, she said.

“I think it makes sense for us to house people rather than shelter them for a long period of time — the focus is housing them,” Marrone said. “We want to steer away from requiring people to go into a shelter because we want to make sure the end result is stabilization.”

Street homelessness has been kept to a minimal year-round in Syracuse due to such housing efforts and outreach programs. Clemens also credits outreach programs as the first step to making the homeless feel seen.

“What would it be like if they didn’t have somebody to show up and make sure they’re OK and show them that somebody cares?” Clemens said. “They’re saving lives. They are. Mine was one of them.”

Published on November 28, 2016 at 10:05 pm

Contact Taylor: tnwatson@syr.edu