Members of the Mayor's Task Force to End Homelessness met in the HealthFirst Community Room on January 14, 2015. The meeting brought together representatives of the First Step Inn, the Community Development Agency, SER-Jobs, the Greater Fall River Food Pantry, the First Baptist Church, Steppingstone, the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, Soloman's Porch Church, Greater Fall River United Way, Partners for a Healthier Community, and BayCoast Bank along with two community volunteers. The discussion helped to clarify the system that is currently in place to service homeless individuals and elicited ideas for ways of improving it. Following an update on the capital campaign for a relocated shelter on Durfee Street and a report on the overflow shelter volunteer training, Mike Bryant of the First Step Inn made a presentation on a new, three-year, grant-funded Focused Achievements In Housing and Recovery (FAIHR) Project that will provide services to homeless individuals. Click here for a two-minute video of Mr. Christ's presentation on the financing of the shelter re-location. Click here for a PowerPoint presentation of the FAIHR Project. For further information about the Task Force, contact Mary Camara at 508-679-0131.  

(Top row, left) Mary Camara of the Community Development Agency that oversees funding for many of the city's homeless services responded to questions about the number of homeless individuals in the last point-in-time count as Task Force Co-Chair Nick Christ listens. (Top row, center) Mike Bryant of the First Step Shelter listens as Rev. Brian Weeks, Senior Pastor of Soloman's Porch Church reports on volunteer recruitment for the City's four overflow shelters that operate during the winter months (Top row, right) Homeless Task Force member Al Araujo talks about some of the barriers that homeless people face in applying for programs and services. (Row two) Members of the Task Force tackle a number of issues. (Row three) Mike Bryant presents the recently-funded Focused Achievements In Housing and Recovery (FAIHR) Program that will provide assistance with obtaining permanent housing along with social support and connections to local resources for homeless individuals over the next three years. (Row five) Greg Whritenour, Dave Perry of the Greater Fall River Food Pantry and Rosa Medeiros of Steppingstone's First Step Inn ask questions of Mr. Bryant about the FAIHR Program. (Bottom row) Richard Mancini, also of the Food Pantry, and Dawn Nardi of SER-Jobs listen and Psychologist Donna Caldwell responds as Bureau of Substance Abuse Services Housing and homeless Specialist talks about ways that the Commonwealth could use a Medicaid waiver to provide housing as a way of reducing medical costs.