Mayor William Flanagan hosted a Mayoral Roundtable Discussion on Homeless Services in the City on April 19, 2011 to discuss the system of medical and human services in place to assist homeless persons and persons at risk for homelessness. Convened by Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator Perry Long, the meeting brought together representatives of the First Step Inn, the HealthFirst Family Care Center, the Mayor's Task Force to End Homelessness, the Community Development Agency, the Community Resilience and Recovery Initiative (CRRI) and Stanley Street Treatment and Resources. The discussion helped to clarify the system that is currently in place and elicited ideas for improvement. Among a number of ideas expressed was the potential for expanding the Homeless Connect project to provide more opportunities for homeless individuals and families to access services in a "one stop shopping" setting. For further information, contact neighborhood outreach coordinator Perry Long at 508-676-0324.
 

(Top row) Neighborhood Outreach Perry Long joins Mayor William Flanagan for a roundtable discussion in the sixth floor conference room at Government Center. (Middle row, left) Paula Harrison of the HealthFirst Family Care Center listens as homeless outreach physician assistant Stephanie Lee describes some of the challenges she finds in developing trusting relationships with the chronic homeless population. (Middle row, right) Rosa Medeiros of Steppingstone's First Step Inn describes the benefits of offering services in a single setting as her coworker Michael Bryant listens. (Bottom row) CRRI grant administrator Erica Moniz and project coordinator Paula Beaulieu of Project Assist listen to some of the suggestions from Mayor's Task Force co-chair Nicholas Christ and Michael Dion and Mary Camara of the Community Development Agency that oversees funding for many of the city's homeless services. (Bottom row, center) Stanley Street Treatment and Resources executive director Nancy Paull makes a suggestion about ways that agency heads might be better able to respond to problem situations as Mr. Long listens.