Latest / Inside West Palm Beach / Helping The Homeless: Understanding The Challenges Pt 1 of 3

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Helping The Homeless: Understanding The Challenges Pt 1 of 3 · Inside West Palm Beach

• 0:15
  Welcome to the City Center podcast from West Palm Beach,
• 0:18
  Florida.
• 0:19
  I'm Jerry Marcelo.
• 0:20
  Trying to help those who are homeless is a tremendous challenge for nearly every community in America.
• 0:26
  West Palm Beach is no exception.
• 0:29
  The plight of those who have no place to call home has been the topic of many conversations by residents and city leaders alike.
• 0:36
  Today we begin a series of three podcasts to explore the current state of homelessness here in West Palm Beach.
• 0:43
  Understand the myths and truth surrounding homelessness and what we can all do to ease the problem for those who are living on America's Streets with me.
• 0:53
  Today is homeless services coordinator for the city of West Palm Beach,
• 0:56
  Ali Severino Ali.
• 0:58
  Welcome.
• 0:58
  Hi,
• 0:58
  Jerry.
• 0:59
  Glad to be here.
• 1:00
  Great,
• 1:00
  great to have you here.
• 1:02
  Tell us your story.
• 1:03
  How did you find yourself be playing this role for the city?
• 1:06
  Well,
• 1:06
  it's a long story but I will keep it brief.
• 1:09
  So basically,
• 1:10
  um I started working in addiction treatment,
• 1:12
  behavioral health services about 12 years ago.
• 1:16
  And so I did that for a long time.
• 1:18
  I had a sober living for a little bit.
• 1:21
  Um I actually even made a TV show called Dope Sick Nation,
• 1:24
  which was on uh vice and a film called American Relapse.
• 1:29
  And through those things,
• 1:30
  I was able to meet um some individuals uh at the city and I was already involved in doing street outreach independently on my own.
• 1:38
  I wasn't working for anybody.
• 1:39
  I was just coming out and offering people treatment and trying to get them scholarships and stuff like that.
• 1:44
  And um after 2020 I decided to,
• 1:49
  they had a position opening and so I interviewed for it and they gave it to me and I was very excited to be here in a city that I love so much and for something I'm so passionate about.
• 2:00
  So that's clearly have background and experience so that you could really connect with folks and really,
• 2:08
  you know,
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  make a difference and that's fantastic.
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  And I'm also a peer.
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  So peers are very important in this kind of work.
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  And that means I have lived experience similar to some of the clients.
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  So we're able to connect in that way and um have more understanding and,
• 2:23
  you know,
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  I got you.
• 2:24
  Well,
• 2:24
  let's start our look at homelessness here in West Palm Beach with understanding of,
• 2:28
  of the problem nationwide.
• 2:30
  I mean,
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  it's,
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  it's everywhere,
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  isn't it everywhere?
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  And some places is more concentrated than others.
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  Obviously,
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  it's more ideal to be experiencing homelessness in a place that's warm as opposed to the frigid cold.
• 2:42
  And let's say Montana,
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  even though they experience it there as well.
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  Um,
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  but yeah,
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  it,
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  it is everywhere right now.
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  Nationally,
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  we have about 580,000,
• 2:51
  um,
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  unhoused people.
• 2:53
  So,
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  and about 28,000 of those individuals are in the state of Florida.
• 2:58
  Well,
• 2:58
  well,
• 2:58
  let's talk about the types of folks that you encounter here in West Palm Beach.
• 3:03
  What do we see here a little bit?
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  I mean,
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  there's some basic categories.
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  So we have our chronically homeless individuals who and a lot of our people that are in the parks and that you see outside,
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  many of them grew up here and many of them have um have been lived in poverty most of their lives and a lot of the individuals outside also a common theme is they've had some sort of tragic loss of family.
• 3:28
  So when you've already,
• 3:30
  uh you know,
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  been living in poverty your entire life and then you lose your mom,
• 3:35
  dad or whoever has been helping you,
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  you really end up in a spot where it's difficult to get out of.
• 3:41
  I understand you use the term chronic homeless that define that a little bit more for me.
• 3:46
  Sure.
• 3:47
  So our chronically homeless are individuals who are spending long periods of time outside over a year or they've experienced multiple episodes of homelessness within three years.
• 3:56
  So we say four bouts of homelessness within three years would consider somebody chronic.
• 4:01
  Um But,
• 4:02
  you know,
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  we have people outside who have been there for 10 years or longer and it's not due to lack of us trying,
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  but there's so many other barriers that they face.
• 4:12
  What kind of barriers are you talking about?
• 4:14
  So,
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  um you know,
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  they have severe mental health challenges,
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  some of them have substance use disorders.
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  Some of them are on such a low fixed income.
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  I would say a majority of our unhoused population is on disability,
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  meaning they bring home about $800 dollars a month.
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  And if you have looked at rent lately,
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  you'll see that the average rent in West Palm is about 15,
• 4:36
  1600.
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  That's on the low end for a one bedroom.
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  So,
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  you know,
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  that that's an issue too.
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  And when you've been outside for so long,
• 4:45
  it really is.
• 4:47
  Um,
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  it's,
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  uh,
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  it's difficult for them to go inside and to leave.
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  It might sound silly but they've built a community outside and they know how to survive and they know what that looks like for them.
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  And so sometimes when they go inside,
• 5:01
  they don't really know what to do or they make really poor choices which lead to them.
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  Losing their housing again.
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  Are by and large.
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  Are these people individuals or are they families?
• 5:12
  Well,
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  we have both,
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  we have a lot of families outside.
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  This year's point in time count showed a 36% increase in our own house population and a large majority of our own.
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  I mean,
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  a decent amount of the people outside our family units,
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  you don't always see them.
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  Sometimes they're in their cars and stuff like that.
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  But,
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  um,
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  so I'd say maybe it's like 30% of families,
• 5:34
  which is still a lot,
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  it's still a tremendous number.
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  A lot of folks who live here don't really understand the daily challenges that these folks face.
• 5:47
  I mean,
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  where do they go for food?
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  Where do they go for shelter?
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  So,
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  um,
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  so many of them,
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  well,
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  first we don't have like a emergency overnight shelter.
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  So there's actually no place for an individual to go and seek shelter at night.
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  Like some other cities offer,
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  we have a shelter program.
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  So which they get placed on a waiting list for when there's a bed available.
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  That's a,
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  um,
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  when it comes to food and showers,
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  we have great resources like San M Place that they're able to utilize,
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  they do their laundry there,
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  they're able to shower,
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  get breakfast and lunch.
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  They offer,
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  they have the health care district out of there now.
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  So our clients are able to get their medications or see a doctor or get their mental health meds.
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  Uh,
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  they also have a disability attorney.
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  So we try to keep all that in one little location.
• 6:30
  So it's simple but for individuals who might be living by Southern Boulevard.
• 6:35
  Ok.
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  Southern is a far ways away when you don't have a car or a phone or any money.
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  From Saint Ann's.
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  So the people down there really rely on,
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  uh,
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  you know,
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  we have a few different churches,
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  I guess I'd say that do that.
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  But the showers and stuff like that is very difficult.
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  The hygiene is difficult.
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  Do they see crime are the victims of,
• 6:54
  of people taking advantage of them?
• 6:57
  Oh,
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  yeah.
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  And it,
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  sometimes it's so much,
• 6:59
  I mean,
• 6:59
  the fraud that sometimes goes on,
• 7:01
  I'll give you a story.
• 7:02
  So I had a gentleman who he has experienced chronic homelessness and he finally was ready to go to drug treatment.
• 7:08
  He's one of my favorite clients.
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  I love him so much.
• 7:11
  So we were able to make it happen.
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  He had health insurance,
• 7:15
  uh got him in.
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  So he's been in the now for 30 days and he's doing great so good.
• 7:20
  And the facility called me saying that his insurance was switched and that now he has a $10,000 deductible and so he wouldn't be able to stay there anymore.
• 7:29
  Well,
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  when I did my research,
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  I found out,
• 7:31
  well,
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  the insurance agent because there's many that prey on the homeless,
• 7:34
  they give them $5 to sign up for insurance and then they keep their information and they regularly change their plans so they can continue to get paid.
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  So there's a lot of,
• 7:44
  uh,
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  you know,
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  theft of your identity,
• 7:47
  identity theft that goes on a lot of that.
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  And there's a lot of violent crime that happens because and half the time they're not reported because these individuals often don't have phones that are working.
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  So,
• 7:58
  you know,
• 7:59
  you used the term you've worked with your clients.
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  Let's take a step back.
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  You tell us a little bit about what your job involves and how you work with folks on the street.
• 8:08
  Sure.
• 8:09
  So the homeless outreach team through the city of West Palm Beach,
• 8:12
  there's,
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  we come in,
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  we work about usually 7 to 75 days a week.
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  And when we come in,
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  our goal is to hit every single park and go under the bridges and the community will often let us know if they see somebody that they think needs some services and we meet the client where they're at.
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  So we go into the street and we sit with them and maybe we're going to do a food stamp application.
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  Maybe we're signing them up for shelter,
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  you know,
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  a barrier often to shelter is ID and residency.
• 8:40
  So maybe they need help getting an ID.
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  Sounds easy.
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  But now we need to get money to pay for the ID.
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  And oh,
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  they didn't have a star.
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  So now we have to order their birth certificate.
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  I had a guy wait six months to get his birth certificate from New York.
• 8:53
  So all of those are things that take time and that's what our staff does every day.
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  We're working with them on their goals,
• 9:00
  whether that is to go into drug treatment or get mental health services reconnect with their loved ones or find housing for themselves.
• 9:09
  How many people like you are working on this particular?
• 9:12
  So,
• 9:12
  in the city of West Palm Beach we have at the vicar's house in particular,
• 9:17
  we have me Lisa Henry,
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  Mary Raven Brandy 676 or 76 or seven,
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  which is great because at one point there was only like two or three of us.
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  So we're slowly growing our team,
• 9:32
  right?
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  And,
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  and,
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  and each of these individuals are going out into the street and meeting with clients and contacting new,
• 9:38
  new clients.
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  How does that go?
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  I mean,
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  do you,
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  when you,
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  when you actually meet someone for the first time,
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  are they open or,
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  or are they suspicious?
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  And sometimes they think we're,
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  we have something to do with the cops or,
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  you know,
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  we're going to yell at them or something like that.
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  But once we,
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  I try to just come in very soft and hey,
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  my name's Ally,
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  you know,
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  I do the homeless services for the city.
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  We saw you.
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  Is there anything that you might need?
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  And I just let them know the things that we're offering and sometimes I'll be like,
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  no,
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  no,
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  no,
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  no,
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  no.
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  Right.
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  But often they'll go well,
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  yeah,
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  I'm interested in shelter.
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  What does that look like?
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  And then we have to explain the process to them.
• 10:13
  Um,
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  and it's our job to hold their hand or not.
• 10:17
  Hold their hand.
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  But to be with them through that process,
• 10:19
  while they're outside,
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  once they go inside,
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  that goes to another level of case management and stuff like that.
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  But while they're outdoors trying to survive,
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  our staff is working with them every step of the way,
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  maybe they need a ride to go,
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  uh,
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  see about their disability or to,
• 10:37
  uh,
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  reconnect with their family or they need to use our phones,
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  which happens often.
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  I mean,
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  most of our clients when have these big appointments over Zoom and all this new stuff that's come out,
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  they can't do it.
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  So we make all the appointments,
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  we use our phones,
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  you know,
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  our city phones,
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  we go out there,
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  we make sure they're doing all that stuff.
• 10:54
  So,
• 10:55
  yeah.
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  Well,
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  ok,
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  so let's just change gear slightly.
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  We've talked a lot about the folks who are on the street.
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  Another part of the equation.
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  Of course,
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  are the residents,
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  do they have an understanding of what is really the problem?
• 11:09
  I don't think so.
• 11:10
  Iiii I think they,
• 11:12
  you know,
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  they,
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  they care and they want to help.
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  But I think a lot of people including myself,
• 11:17
  you know,
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  I've always worked specifically mostly with substance use and mental health but,
• 11:21
  and I thought,
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  ok,
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  that's going to be very similar when I get to homelessness.
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  But I,
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  I had no idea how complex it was.
• 11:28
  I really didn't.
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  And that's for someone who works in this field.
• 11:30
  Every day.
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  And so,
• 11:32
  um it's a lot more complex and the solutions take a lot more time and energy than I think many people believe.
• 11:40
  Sure.
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  And we're gonna be talking about misconceptions later on in another episode.
• 11:45
  But generally,
• 11:46
  you know,
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  uh do folks have an overriding um,
• 11:52
  error or,
• 11:53
  or,
• 11:53
  or bad image that you're really fighting against?
• 11:57
  Um,
• 11:57
  I guess one of the main things is that and they're not wrong to think these things,
• 12:02
  right.
• 12:02
  I think they're really common but just that they're in serious danger when they're around somebody who's unhoused.
• 12:09
  Often,
• 12:09
  that person is more scared of you than you might even be of them.
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  I mean,
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  they get things thrown at them in the middle of the night.
• 12:15
  They get all these attacked,
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  sexual assaults,
• 12:19
  all these things are happening to them.
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  They're in a state a moment of trauma.
• 12:23
  Um,
• 12:23
  so you know that and that maybe they're just lazy or they're not even trying to do anything when you see the same person outside for six months.
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  Let's talk about my client with the birth certificate.
• 12:33
  He was outside for six months.
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  You might pass him every day thinking he's doing nothing for himself.
• 12:37
  Meanwhile,
• 12:38
  every day he's waking up taking the bus,
• 12:41
  taking a shower,
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  meeting with attorneys trying to get his birth certificate,
• 12:45
  but he's still outside.
• 12:47
  So I would say that's a pretty big misconception that they're because they're outside,
• 12:50
  they're not actively working on something Right.
• 12:53
  Right.
• 12:54
  Um,
• 12:55
  do you,
• 12:55
  do you think that folks,
• 12:57
  the residents are compassionate,
• 12:58
  do they,
• 12:58
  do they really want these folks to be helped or,
• 13:01
  or are they just wanting them to go away?
• 13:06
  It would,
• 13:06
  it would be easier if they weren't,
• 13:07
  if you didn't see it.
• 13:09
  And I think when people see individuals experiencing homelessness and makes them feel sad inside,
• 13:14
  um,
• 13:15
  and it also,
• 13:16
  you know,
• 13:16
  maybe it looks bad when your friends come to visit and there's unhoused people outside.
• 13:21
  I've heard that multiple times from residents and I don't disagree.
• 13:25
  Um But the,
• 13:26
  the solution is big and sometimes when people try to get involved in the solution,
• 13:33
  they back out because they think it's as easy as feeding them,
• 13:36
  they are fed,
• 13:37
  they have tons of food.
• 13:38
  That is not a food is not a problem for our unhoused housing is a problem.
• 13:44
  Yeah,
• 13:44
  I mean,
• 13:45
  I think that's one of the,
• 13:46
  one of the great misconceptions folks have is,
• 13:48
  oh,
• 13:48
  well,
• 13:48
  I'll just hand them the sandwich or,
• 13:52
  you know,
• 13:52
  we hand them a couple of dollars.
• 13:54
  That's not,
• 13:55
  that's not the solution to the problem.
• 13:57
  No,
• 13:58
  it does nothing to assist them in any way.
• 14:00
  Getting closer to a goal of being inside and our mental health services.
• 14:04
  I think people think there's also a lot more services available than there are and it's nobody's fault,
• 14:08
  but this year we've had 36% increase in our own house population compared to last year,
• 14:12
  which is a huge jump.
• 14:14
  So,
• 14:14
  if we've had 36% increase,
• 14:16
  we need to respond to that with the increase in services,
• 14:19
  which I believe the county is working on because a lot of this also comes through the county.
• 14:23
  Yes,
• 14:23
  the city,
• 14:24
  we have our own responsibilities,
• 14:26
  but it's a big thing.
• 14:30
  Um,
• 14:30
  it's a,
• 14:30
  it's a complex system.
• 14:32
  So,
• 14:33
  yeah.
• 14:33
  So if you could have a magic megaphone to talk to the residents of West Palm Beach,
• 14:38
  what would be the message you would really want them to walk away with?
• 14:42
  For sure to understand.
• 14:45
  Well,
• 14:45
  I would say if you want to help,
• 14:47
  what I would suggest is volunteering,
• 14:49
  spending either your time,
• 14:51
  which I know is important and valuable.
• 14:53
  So you can use your time,
• 14:55
  you can donate your money,
• 14:56
  you can advocate for changes in laws because the fact that they closed all of our mental health uh institutions.
• 15:03
  Ok.
• 15:04
  A lot of our individuals were at the Jerome Golden Facility when it closed down and now they are outside.
• 15:09
  So the longer that we don't have these programs and services because of different laws that are enacted,
• 15:15
  we're going to continue to see the same thing.
• 15:17
  So I would say to dive into the laws and advocate for changes for certain things like that.
• 15:22
  I think that would be very helpful for us.
• 15:24
  Thanks next time on the City Center podcast.
• 15:27
  Uh We're gonna be talking more about what to do what we can do as individuals and as a city to help the homeless,
• 15:33
  what steps can be taken by City Hall and what things each of us can do to help folks find a home.
• 15:40
  Uh We'll continue our conversation with Ali Severino,
• 15:43
  a homeless services coordinator for the city of West Palm Beach.
• 15:46
  In the next episode,
• 15:47
  the City Center podcast is produced by the City of West Palm Beach.
• 15:51
  We hope you found today's discussion useful.
• 15:53
  And if you did,
• 15:54
  please subscribe.
• 15:55
  If you have any questions or comments,
• 15:57
  please write us at podcast at W pb.org.
• 16:02
  If you wish to learn more about what city resources are available,
• 16:05
  visit the city's website at W pb.org front slash housing.
• 16:11
  Join us next time.
• 16:12
  Thanks for listening.