Bhutanese Cultural Center, 705 Pittston Ave., Scranton
The meeting opened with a moment of silence and reflection after the reading of a poem by the late Mary Oliver (d.Jan. 2019).
Chandra Sitaula, president of the Bhutanese Cultural Center, discussed the many services available to anyone in the community and available at the Bhutanese Cultural Center. ESL classes, citizenship classes, and employment help are available to anyone in the community.
Mr. Sitaula also gave a moving description of his own journey from Bhutan to the US as a refugee (including time in refugee camps in India and Nepal before the US admitted Bhutanese refugees). The description illustrated another form of homelessness.
Approximately 25 people attended the meeting.
Youth Homelessness meeting later in the month (Feb 27) with NEPA Youth Shelter, United Neighborhood Centers, and Greater Scranton Homeless
Weather conditions have taxed emergency shelter facilities and the situation is being closely monitored.
Greater Scranton Homeless met with United Neighborhood Centers, United Way, and Scranton Primary Healthcare to discuss needs in the region.
The MLK events were rescheduled due to weather:
Feb 24 – Dinner
Feb 25 – Church service
Lillian from AmeriHealth discussed the Veteran’s pasta dinner scheduled for March 31 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish Center in Pittston. Letters available for those interested in providing for a raffle basket. The event bnefits homeless veterans in Lackawanna County.
Meeting with Lackawanna Pro Bono and the Equal Access to Justice Committee of the Lackawanna Bar Association. Preliminary survey results of the legal needs for financially distressed individuals showed that recipients of services from Lackawanna Pro Bono, that 85% are employed or are actively seeking employment (showing working poor).
Robin announced a play on Friday and Saturday at Scranton Cultural Center called from Waverly PA to Scranton.
On January 30 and 31, area organizations performed the HUD-required point-in-time counts of HUD-defined homeless. The point-in-time may provide a baseline of homeless individuals in county. This data will be available in a couple of months. Now the count will be every three years.
Kim Fitzgerald (Ma Kim)
Kim gave a moving discussion of her journey from homelessness. Being homeless over a year, Kim shared her experiences and provided advice to those helping. Kim emphasized that not all homeless people have addiction issues, rather, adverse circumstances can quickly lead to homelessness when living from paycheck-to-paycheck.
Kim emphasized that effective case management (support) helped her to transition from homelessness.
The moving story discussed her concerns with freezing to death, her tent near Keystone Mission, encounters with medical personnel, and the real needs of people living on-the-streets (water-resistant bedrolls, clothing, hats, gloves, coats, feminine products, and tents (for shelter).
Kim answered many questions from audience members including questions about how medical providers can better meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness.
Kim's advice: smile and say hello to homeless people, it's important.
Addendum: The Scranton Times featured Kim on February 6, 2019, in a very well-written article.
Jason Griffiths of Community Intervention Center (CiC) in Scranton
Jason heads the CiC. He spoke about the diverse services offered by CiC including day shelter, food, clothing, laundry services, showers, computers, and support. Jason also indicated the importance of an address to help homeless people and CiC receives mail for registered people to help. Visitors can register and starts the Homeless Management Information System to help coordinate services, programs, and care.
The discussion time throughout the evening gave insights into several topics. CiC might address addiction rates of 90%+.
Weather takes toll--wet items must be discarded. Tents, cold weather clothes, and boxer underwear (not briefs) needed.
Also insights into problems with managing medications where forgetting and taking extra can lead to shortages before refills due. Also, medications can be complicated due to narcotics rules that limit ability to remind individuals to take medications. Complex issues.
Part of the discussion addressed the HUD-required point-in-time count and the challenges related to these counts. Keystone Mission reported a Baylor University study indicating that 58% of homeless services in the study areas were provided by non-HUD entities. The recent cold weather may alter the point-in-time counts this year as persons temporarily housed due to the abnormal cold at the time of the count might be excluded from the count as not meeting the HUD definition of homeless. (It is premature to know whether the counts will increase or decrease due to the timing this year and definitions.)