Lowell kicks off its Healthy Summer

Article Launched: 7/05/2006 11:31 AM

The goal: Helping those on the edge

By MATT MURPHY, Sun Staff
Lowell Sun

LOWELL -- Phil Widener had a house, a wife and a good job with a steady income from driving a tractor-trailer.

Then on a winter night 20 miles south of Bangor, Maine, Widener's truck hit a patch of black ice. The vehicle skidded off the road, and Widener shattered vertebrae in his back.

In one brief moment, everything he had taken for granted disappeared.

"It altered my whole life. It led to the end of my marriage. I was collecting disability, but I'm a little high-strung and I couldn't sit there and do nothing," the 45-year-old Widener said.

But no matter what he tried, he couldn't stop the tailspin that ultimately landed him in a homeless shelter, addicted to the painkillers he was first prescribed for his back.

For the past three years, Community Teamwork Inc. in Lowell has worked with the state and now with private funding to help people like Widener stay out of the shelter system.

A proposal currently being debated on Beacon Hill and backed by several area legislators could pump up to $5 million into pilot programs like CTI's SHIFT Coalition that view prevention as the best way to fight homelessness.

After his divorce, Widener bounced around without work, spending seven months in a Boston-area shelter for veterans. After enrolling in a Worcester treatment facility to help kick his painkiller addiction, Widener found an apartment he could afford in Salisbury.

But in January, Widener's landlord threw him another curveball. His apartment building was scheduled for renovations, and Widener had to move out immediately.

Living off disability checks of $1,000 a month, Widener didn't have the first and last month of rent he needed to get a new apartment. Once again he faced moving to a shelter.

That's when he found his way to CTI, a Lowell nonprofit dedicated to helping low-income individuals and families.

The CTI SHIFT Coalition targets those like Widener who could become self-sufficient if only someone would help get them over the hump.

"We find that once people go to a shelter, it becomes harder for them to climb out of poverty. If you can find a way to intervene before they walk through those doors, you can save a massive monetary cost over time," said Elisha Harig-Blaine, coordinator of the SHIFT Coalition.

In 2003, Massachusetts did not have the shelter space to meet the needs of the state's homeless population. At the peak of the crisis, more than 600 families had to be placed in hotel rooms, which cost the state an additional $2 million.

The SHIFT Coalition formed that year, with the help of the Department of Transitional Assistance, for the purpose of working to prevent homelessness before it begins. According to Blaine, 90 percent of the people helped through initial Shelter-To-Housing program were self-sufficient within a year.

Though state funding dried up the next year, the SHIFT Coalition continued the program by raising private funds mostly through local churches.

Since April 2005, Blaine said the SHIFT Coalition has helped 25 people avoid area shelters with as little as $28,000. Each client received an average of $1,200.

"This is not the silver bullet, we realize that. And programs like these are not going to eliminate the need for shelters. But it's no longer good enough to just manage the problem. We need to close the front door to these shelters," said Ed Cameron, CTI associate executive director.

The bill being debated in the state Senate and House of Representatives -- called the Housing First Stabilization Project -- would once again partner the Department of Transitional Assistance with local pilot programs to prevent family homelessness.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Teahan, a Democrat from Whitman, and has the full support of Sen. Susan Tucker of Andover and Sen. Steven Panagiotakos of Lowell.

"The key to putting a dent in homelessness is to prevent it at the front end and keep these people in their homes," said Panagiotakos, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. "We don't invest enough in homelessness. It looks like a lot of money upfront, but there are long-term savings. I think it makes fiscal sense and it makes human sense."

Both the Senate and the House are hashing out final budgets this week, and Panagiotakos acknowledged that there is not always enough money to go around.

But proponents of the bill insist the money will be well spent, pointing to similar programs, including one in New York City.

"The federal government has taken a major walk from affordable housing. The funding is just not available and these families can't wait while we're waiting for Nirvana to happen," said Sue Beaton, a director for the nonprofit One Family Campaign in Boston that is lobbying for the new funding.

SHIFT Coalition clients go through a screening process during which Blaine and Cameron try to determine whether the little financial help available will be enough for the person to get back on their feet.

Sometimes it can be as little as a few hundred dollars to fix someone's car so they can get to work, Blaine said.

Widener used the $1,000 he received from CTI for a deposit on a new apartment in Amesbury. In April, he fulfilled a childhood ambition of being a cosmetologist when he graduated from the Empire School of Beauty in Portsmouth, N.H.

Now Widener styles hair at Smart Styles, an independent salon inside the Seabrook, N.H., Wal-Mart.

"I'm on my feet and doing well and I wouldn't have been here if they didn't help me," he said.

For others, CTI's help proved to be the difference between having a roof over their head and sleeping on the street.

Dan, who asked that his last name not be printed, has Chrohn's disease and uses a colostomy bag. The disease makes him so weak, he sometimes can't get out of bed.

But when his aunt died, Dan and his cousin were forced to sell the house they lived in. Dan's disability checks did not provide enough money for the initial costs of an apartment.

With $1,200 from CTI, Dan, 45, moved into an apartment in South Lowell and said he has found ways to make ends meet.

"I needed the help. I'm not proud of it, but I needed it," Dan said. "I wake up every day and am thankful for what they did for me."

Matt Murphy's e-mail address is mmurphy@lowellsun.com.