City searches for answers to the homeless question

By Stephanie Butler

CAMBRIDGE – A man wearing tattered clothes rests on the bench in the Harvard Square MBTA station, his eyes closed, oblivious to the impatient people around him who are waiting for their rides to work.

Up on the street, another man with a shopping cart full of black garbage bags sits on the sidewalk and surveys the pedestrians passing in front of him.

The number of homeless in the city is on the rise, and with the faulting economy city officials think it could worsen.

At the Oct. 20 City Council meeting, Mayor Denise Simmons requested the City Manager to report back with a plan on how to lessen the "short and long-term impact the current economic crisis will have on homelessness" in the city.

The city already offers a 21 page resource guide for homeless people, which includes information on shelters, medical care and other services needed.

Councilor Henrietta Davis said that eliminating the state’s income tax, which is Question 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot, would only worsen the problem because it would reduce the funding for homeless services.

In January, a census counted 487 homeless in the city, a nine percent increase from last year when officials counted 432.

The crisis even extends to students - 249 were listed this year as homeless or living with relatives after losing their home, according to a November report released by Cambridge Public Schools.

The tough economic times the country is also impacting people who might not be homeless, but can't afford to feed their families.

Food costs have almost doubled, and almost 200 new people have registered with the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee pantry, director Elaine DeRosa said.

“Whenever the economy is hurting, people in lower-income jobs are at risk,” said Fred Berman, a planner with the Department of Human Services.