Heroin and homelessness

In the general population, it is prescription drugs, particularly opioid painkillers, that now are the main cause of overdose death, outnumbering deaths from all other drugs (including heroin) combined. Of the opioids contributing to overdoses in the Boston study, the bulk were indeed painkillers and other non-heroin narcotics.
The toll of substance abuse among homeless people goes beyond fatal overdoses. Other deaths caused by substance use disorders, especially alcoholism, accounted for nearly 8 percent of the mortality in the new study—a two-fold increase over the earlier study. And looking deeper into the statistics, it is clear that addiction plays an even wider role in the high mortality of homeless adults: The high number of heart disease deaths and fact that most cancer deaths were from cancers attributable to smoking (e.g., lung, trachea) reflect the high rate of nicotine addiction among homeless adults, 73 percent of whom smoke (more than three times the rate for the general population).
Homeless people suffer disproportionately from all health problems, and drug abuse and addiction are no exceptions. Despite improvements in healthcare services for homeless people in the Manchester area in the decade and a half ,increasing deaths due to drugs and alcohol countered the other health gains.

since I have been keeping track of homeless deaths in there was a total of 187 in 16 years, in the last 2 years heroin overdoses have surpassed that total.

pandhandling on street corners Manchester and Concord

Capital city's renewed panhandling ordinance could be a model for Manchester

By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader

MANCHESTER — The city of Manchester’s homeless services director this week praised a Concord city ordinance that prohibits roadside panhandlers from accepting anything passed to them from an idling motor vehicle.

Susan Howland said an ordinance like Concord’s 2-year-old measure, which was re-authorized earlier this week, would go a long way toward preventing people from holding signs asking for handouts at busy Manchester intersections.

“I think anything anyone can do to stop it is a good idea,” Howland said. She said panhandlers on street corners make people think that existing programs to help the homeless are not working, and they paint a negative picture of people who actually are homeless.

Cities have grappled with panhandling for years, since courts have ruled that panhandlers have a free-speech right to solicit donations from passersby.

The Concord ordinance doesn’t prohibit anyone from holding a sign. But it prohibits anyone from distributing, receiving or exchanging any item with the occupant of a motor vehicle located in a public roadway.

The ordinance says roadside exchanges are a threat to the free and safe flow of traffic.

Concord City Manager Tom Aspell said the ordinance has cut down on streetside panhandling.

“Once we explain it to people, they get it,” Aspell said. “It seems to be quite effective. Is it perfect? No. But as soon as we send an officer, people disappear.”

Manchester panhandlers are frequently found at several locations, including highway exits at Bridge Street, Second Street and South Willow Street, Howland said.

Howland said police and social workers estimate that nine out of 10 panhandlers use handouts to satisfy a drug or alcohol habit.

On Wednesday, a woman holding a sign at Beech and Bridge streets told a New Hampshire Union Leader photographer that she is not a drug addict. She said she has two children and could be doing worse things.

“I could be stealing,” she said.

Concord passed the ordinance two years ago with a sunset provision. On Monday, the city council unanimously re-authorized it and removed the sunset provision, Aspell said.

Gilles Bissonnette, a staff attorney with the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, said his organization worked with Concord on the ordinance. The prohibition against roadside exchanges was a compromise.

He said it bans conduct — the exchange of any item — that is not speech.

“At least on the ordinance’s face, there’s less of a First Amendment concern,” he said. But his organization monitors Concord to make sure the ordinance is applied even-handedly and is not used to suppress free speech underhandedly, he said.

Last year, Concord police received 160 calls regarding panhandling; 30 enforcement actions, including citations, were issued based on the panhandling ordinance.

Aspell said the maximum fine is $500, but it would be up to a judge to decide how much to levy. No citations were issued against drivers, only panhandlers.

The ordinance makes an exception for police officers and motorists exchanging information after an accident.

- See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150312/NEWS0606/150319700#sthash.XWHlFx8n.dpuf

So a new group of folks want to do outreach, "wellness checks" I'm told. The folks from Exorcist Motorcycle club.

Jamie Kupchun the inspiration for the creation of the NH Under the Bridge Project has passed away on Nov. 18, 2014.

I am saddened. I hadn't seen him in many years, then more recently is was sporadic at best. In the  last few months I find he is living in the building next door. Spoken to him on the street. Introduced to his girlfriend.

Yesterday, fire rescue and an ambulance and police car in front of his apartment. His girlfriend screaming from the porch, "he's not breathing" and now he is gone.

In honor of Jamie, I offer another great writer, he would understand.

 

“In the City Market is the Meet Café. Followers of obsolete, unthinkable trades doodling in Etruscan, addicts of drugs not yet synthesized, pushers of souped-up harmine, junk reduced to pure habit offering precarious vegetable serenity, liquids to induce Latah, Tithonian longevity serums, black marketeers of World War III, excusers of telepathic sensitivity, osteopaths of the spirit, investigators of infractions denounced by bland paranoid chess players, servers of fragmentary warrants taken down in hebephrenic shorthand charging unspeakable mutilations of the spirit, bureaucrats of spectral departments, officials of unconstituted police states, a Lesbian dwarf who has perfected operation Bang-utot, the lung erection that strangles a sleeping enemy, sellers of orgone tanks and relaxing machines, brokers of exquisite dreams and memories tested on the sensitized cells of junk sickness and bartered for raw materials of the will, doctors skilled in the treatment of diseases dormant in the black dust of ruined cities, gathering virulence in the white blood of eyeless worms feeling slowly to the surface and the human host, maladies of the ocean floor and the stratosphere, maladies of the laboratory and atomic war... A place where the unknown past and the emergent future meet in a vibrating soundless hum... Larval entities waiting for a Live One...”
― William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

Published on the Concord Monitor (http://www.concordmonitor.com)

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Train cars sat idle in Concord for two days before homeless man’s death

By JEREMY BLACKMAN
Monitor staff

Tuesday, July 8, 2014
(Published in print: Wednesday, July 9, 2014)

The train carrying military equipment that reportedly struck and killed a Concord homeless man this weekend sat mostly unattended for two days before lumbering south early Saturday on the second of a four-leg journey to Michigan, according to rail officials and a spokesman for the New Hampshire National Guard.

The train, stretching roughly a mile in length, was carrying grain, cement and other bulk materials, as well as 52 flat-bed cars loaded with military vehicles. It departed shortly after midnight, said Cynthia Scarano, executive vice president of Pan Am Railways.

The body of the homeless man, 49-year-old Shaune Milligan, was found later that morning on the tracks near the Storrs Street Market Basket. The police have said they are investigating whether Milligan climbed under one of the cars, as several acquaintances have reported.

The military vehicles onboard the train were destined for Fort Grayling, where a large multistate training exercise is set to begin Saturday. Lt. Col. Greg Heilshorn, a spokesman for the New Hampshire National Guard, said that shipment is slated to arrive at the camp today.

Heilshorn clarified a statement he made Monday in which he said the Guard’s second and final shipment had departed early last week. In fact, he said, that shipment did leave then from its starting point in Canterbury, but it subsequently sat parked in Concord, the first of three connecting points, until late Friday.

Peter Dearness, owner of New England Southern Railroad Co., which hauled the load from Canterbury, said it arrived in Concord about 2 p.m. last Wednesday. From there, it was handed off to the Boston and Maine Corporation, which is owned by Pan Am.

Scarano said several more cars were added and that a crew arrived at 7 p.m. Friday to begin preparing the train for departure.

Milligan and a group of homeless men were spotted earlier that afternoon drinking under one of the cars behind the former state Liquor Commission warehouse, just south of Market Basket. It was raining.

Several homeless acquaintances, including Larry Knight, who camped nearby, said Milligan had been drinking heavily that evening, and that he had crawled under one of the cars and passed out on the tracks.

The cars were not monitored by B&M before 7 p.m. Friday, Scarano said. She said that is not atypical, especially since the military load did not include high-security goods such as weaponry or hazardous material.

Dearness said a part-time police officer he employs monitored the shipment until it arrived in Concord on Wednesday, and that the officer had told B&M and the Concord police that the cars would be parked there for some time. The Concord police said yesterday that its officers had been told to keep an extra watch on the area.

Knight said he, Milligan and three others had gathered on the east side of the tracks, which is inaccessible by car.

An autopsy was completed Monday, but the police said they are still awaiting toxicology results to determine whether he was inebriated when he died. They have reported no signs of foul play.

(Jeremy Blackman can be reached at 369-3319, jblackman@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JBlackmanCM.)

---

Source URL:http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/12682514-95/train-cars-sat-idle-in-concord-for-two-days-before-homeless-mans-death

warning, don't put a stolen rotisserie hot chicken down your pants. 3 surgeries later----man says almost lost my junk.

The National Homeless Memorial Day Services will be held this year at these locations:


Nashua
Wednesday, December 18 at 5 pm at Main Street Methodist Church, Nashua
Contact:  Eileen Brady, Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, eileen@nsks.org

Portsmouth
Thursday, December 19 at 5:30 pm at Market Square, downtown Portsmouth
Contact:  Jessica Brazeau, Crossroads House, j.brazeau@crossroadshouse.org
See event on Facebook:  https://facebook.com/events/420655131393485

ConcordFriday, December 20 at 4 pm at the City Plaza (on N. Main Street, in front of the State House), Concord
Contact: David Keller, Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, davidandlindy@myfairpoint.net

ManchesterSaturday, December 21 at 7 am at Salvation Army, 121 Cedar Street, Manchester
Vigil organized by Do You Know Him Ministries
Contact:  Bill Sullivan, bjckm76@gmail.com

NewportSaturday, December 21 at 5 pm at Newport Commons
Contact:  Alice Roberts, aliceandruss@comcast.net

LaconiaSaturday, December 21 at 5 pm, Veterans Square, Laconia
Contact:  Len Campbell, NH Catholic Charities, lcampbell@nh-cc.org

KeeneSaturday, December 21, 5:30 pm at Central Square, Keene
Contact:  Deb Chambers, Hundred Nights Shelter, hundrednightsshelter@gmail.com

PeterboroughSaturday, December 21 at 5:30 pm, outside of the Peterborough Town House, 1 Grove Street, Peterborough
Candlelight vigil sponsored by the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter
Contact:  Joan Foucher:  (603)547-7600

They Called Him "Crazy Scotty on the Bike"

Scotty passed away 9/14/13 he was 68

what does it take to end homelessness? I don't believe it is creating more institutional programs but it takes a connection one person to another, one day at a time.

Someone called me tonight and said, Hey I heard that "Crazy Scotty on the bike died" I have not heard of him referred to as that for years and it prompted me to tell you this story.

I met Scotty in 2001 when I was on an outreach run under the bridges in Manchester. I had a box load of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the truck and he went riding by on his bike. It was summer and he had on shorts and he was shirtless. He is a man of small build, but strong shoulders. His hair was graying, shoulder length and wild from the wind.

I yelled, " Hey you, want a sandwich." He got off his bike huffing from a long ride and came over. He asked, " Why would you be giving me a sandwich?"

I explained that I give out sandwiches on Sundays to folks who are un-housed because I know the drop-in centers are closed, as is the recycling centers and it was a good way for me to check conditions of folks. I have plenty, have one.  He accepted the sandwich and went on his way.

Months later I would hear from others that he was asking the guys, "who is the crazy lady wearing moccasins and passing out sandwiches under the bridges?" I bumped into him a few more times fall, still riding around on his bike. Polite conversations but he wasn't really giving up information about himself. Obvious trust issues for obvious reasons.

Where I lived was no secret to most people, smack in the middle of the city, it was. I had brought people up to shower at times, cut their hair, use the phone, (before cell phones). I could help them to get needs met that they couldn't otherwise do because they were evicted from programs that were meant to serve them. Most were drunks that couldn't follow the rules well enough, some were otherwise diagnosed, but I am able to look beyond labels and just love them like the lessons of Mother Teresa and her lepers.  I always had other company at my house for safety, but each person was treated with respect and dignity as a child of the Creator who made them and I. And I am also a drunk, though I have been in recovery a long time. I understand the disease and the incomprehensible demoralization that goes with it. I understand the wreckage that causes us to lose our families, our housing and left on the outside of society. When I turned my life around after my own homelessness, I was determined not to forget where I came from. Perhaps too, this helped me to stay clean and sober. I never had to stay out there. I could visit folks but come back home and be grateful.

That winter in the bitter cold I heard a knock at my door. When I opened the door there stood Scotty and he immediately said, " No hospitals" and he collapsed. My daughter and I got him to the couch. He was burning with fever. He stayed for three days until his fever broke. I nursed him like you would a sick child. When he was better his was able to share a little more of his life with me. I can't tell you what his story is because it is private. But I can say that he was homeless for the last 30 years. He lived in a bus at a flea market for a while, in the back of a store where he was working, at one time, and mostly he would just ride his bike until he collapsed and slept in the bushes. He said I was the first person who gave anything to him with out any expectations of a return.


 In the spring he was sick again he collapsed in the street and was taken to hospital by ambulance.  He was diagnosed with COPD and given inhalers to use. I could not get him to sign up for State Medicade, though  the social workers at the hospital and I gave it our best shot. He was full of fear. He stayed a few days and went to his place, which was now a tent in someone's backyard. He was helping the owner repair a roof.

I'd see him now and again as he road his bike to some of the same AA meetings that I attended. He always stood outside of the group, by the exit as though he needed to make a quick escape. People did not approach him as he seemed unapproachable. But I knew better and kept trying to engage him as often as possible.

Years went by and he finally decided he would accept help and took an opportunity to become housed at the Robinson House, a sober house for men. To do so he had to attend a 28 day program of recover and then he would get a room. Sounded easy enough but there was much paperwork involved with the State Welfare and Social Security Office and he just couldn't handle agencies, their questions and all that paperwork. So I became his authorized representative as he could talk to me and I could work with agencies as appropriate. He went to rehab. I filed for a birth certificate for him, a requirement of housing.

In 2005 he got into the Robinson House. He changed from skittish Scotty to the go-to man for answers on herbalism and natural healing and all about sobriety. He had never used a computer and it was fun showing him how to create his first email account. Once he figured out that all the answers to his questions were right there at his fingertips, he spent many hours researching subjects of alcoholism and the founders of AA, as well as anything related to health, his and others. He was a naturalist and didn't like pills. The doctors had told him he had about six months to live and he was determined to prove them wrong.

His room became cluttered with books and videos on everything from Joseph Campbell's, Hero of a Thousand Faces to the Natural History of Medicinal Plants.  He scoured the internet and shared info with others of what he found about excitotoxins and food additives that kill. He was intelligent in that he always asked, "why?"

He had never gone very far in school. He was what he called, " a misfit" it was of course before the special education programs and so he just went to work on a farm. He had six toes on one foot and thought it was from his fathers service in the military -WWII. He did research on chemical weapons used during that era.

These things set his apart from his peers so he learned to count only on himself. He continued to be a man who worked all his life when he could use his hands in the trades. He learned to read, and what he couldn't pronounced he just memorized what the word looked like. He was nearly blind and would sit at the computer wearing layers of reading glasses.

To those of us who took the time to know him, he was not Crazy Scotty, he will be remembered as a brilliant man. He was counselor to many men in the program where he lived, He had wisdom of his life experiences and he was loved by many. His presence in our lives will be missed.

I'm told he had the nurses at the hospital laughing on Friday night and then he peacefully died in his sleep. Sober, like he wanted.

So today in the year 2013, 8 years after he was told he had 6 months to live, I did the last piece of advocacy for him. I went to City Welfare and filed the papers of his indigent status so that they could sign off on a cremation over at the Phaneuf Funeral home. When I collect his ashes and we will come together again to remember him as we plant a tree in Manchester.

Letter: Homeless trouble in Concord: We are all responsible

For the Monitor

Wednesday, May 8, 2013  

Re “Police press charges to clear homeless sites” (Monitor front page, May 7):

Frustration! Reading the news detailing the eviction of our homeless neighbors, I felt indignation first, followed by inability to understand and embarrassment at not doing something myself, leading to frustration.

Several years ago, while trying to explore if our church facilities could be part of a solution, we met with Mayor Jim Bouley and felt his compassion and desire to help. We read stories of many conflicting civic activities, including the recent brainstorming about how to improve the view from Interstate 93. Subconsciously, is this part of that effort?

We all participate in one way or another. We shout “live free” from the rooftops, but urge state administrators to close their property, which happens to be within easy commute to the Friendly Kitchen. City administrators talk about the crime at homeless camps directly opposite the page with the police log, without any sense of irony that people with homes are also hurting themselves and each other. We cheer the conservation of land and creation of parks for walking, almost all requiring a drive before walking in solitude. Today we read of our failure to provide a conservation deed right for our own neighbors.

We are all responsible. We obviously have not done enough. This appears the perfect opportunity for the Sons of Liberty, the faith community and ACLU to join together and demand the simple freedom of pitching a tent on a small parcel of public land convenient to the support systems. When we infringe on the right to exist beside us of those without voices, we infringe on our own existence.

PHILIP E. LAWRENCE

Concord

Manchester 'homeless meter' program seeks to deter panhandling

The Board of Aldermen is scheduled to vote on a proposal to install 'homeless meters' in six locations around the city.
By PAUL FEELY
New Hampshire Union Leader
MANCHESTER — The Board of Mayor and Aldermen is expected to approve a plan Tuesday night to install “homeless meters” in six locations around the city, to collect donations to benefit the city’s most needy residents.
Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled to get underway at 7:30 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, One City Hall Plaza.

The proposal to install the meters was submitted earlier this month by Manchester Aldermen Pat Long, Ward 3, to the city’s Committee on Traffic. In the plan the devices are termed “Spare Change Meters.” They are repurposed coin-operated parking meters set up to collect donations for designated nonprofit organizations.
“People feel like they should be helping these people,” said Long prior to submitting the proposal. “You’re taught in church that you should help the less fortunate, and they feel guilty if they don’t.”
The idea is similar to programs already established in cities such as Baltimore, Minneapolis and Denver.

Long said he would like to see five or six of the city’s old parking meters installed in some of the most heavily panhandled areas of Manchester, including Elm Street. Money deposited in the meters would go directly to organizations that help the homeless. The goal, Long said, is to reduce panhandling and educate business owners and residents about the problem of giving money directly to people on the streets.
The Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic has unanimously recommended that the proposal be approved, with the following stipulations:

• The locations for the meters be determined by the Parking Division and Highway Department
• The first $260 in donations be used to reimburse the city for installation of the meters.

• All donations received after the $260 threshold is achieved would benefit the organization New Horizons.

“We would paint (the meters ) a new color, maybe red or blue, so they stand out from the ‘Pay and Display’ parking meters,” said Long. “They would be clearly labeled to say what group would benefit from any donations made.”
“I think this is a wonderful idea that is working successfully in a number of communities across the country,” said New Horizons Executive Director Charlie Sherman. “In Denver, their meter program was launched in 2007 and raises over $100,000 for homeless programs in that city. With cuts in federal, state and municipal funding, every year it becomes more and more challenging to raise the necessary funds to continue operating both our main shelter and Angie’s Shelter for women. We do a lot of fund raising throughout the year, but as the need continues to grow and government funding is cut, there is a need to fill that gap.”
The plan is part of the city’s approach to deterring aggressive panhandlers.

“We’re already hearing from some business owners, especially in the downtown area, about aggressive behavior shown by panhandlers,” said Manchester Police Chief David Mara. “A lot of the people we recognize as people who are not homeless. People give them cash, and they are feeding their addictions to alcohol or drugs.”
Long feels these meters would give people the opportunity to still donate to help the homeless, in a way that ensures programs that help them will get the funds.

The Manchester Police Department Community Policing Unit will soon begin increased visibility patrols downtown during the work week lunch time frame. Community police will also meet one-on-one with downtown business and property owners to discuss panhandling and other downtown quality-of-life issues. Mara said during these visits his department will conduct a survey to determine the effect of panhandling on Manchester businesses.
pfeely@unionleader.com

 

occupy movement

Protesters set up camp in New York City more than a month ago and have spread to other cities around the country, prompting many Americans to ask: What exactly do they want?

I've held signs in the park and marched yelling, "we are the 99%" down the main street of our little town, even spent a night or two in the parks against city ordinances, had my face on the news in a crowd scan with my veterans cap on, but I leave feeling simply tired.

Here in Manchester they have welcomed participation of people experiencing homelessness, but there have been some problems related to that as well.

I think my issues of understanding exactly what is happening is likey similar to many others. I simply do not understand politics, I do not have the brain capacity to sort out and follow all the details of who is doing what and why. I can't follow money markets and stocks, and my brain just doesnt retain these things, even as Martha Stewart went to jail for "insider trading" I don't understand what that is, aren't you sipposed to sell your stock before it falls?
I'm not dumb, I have a college degree and I work in my community, I have worked to pass legislation as it pertains to my interests, but I basically can not understand how the government works. we pay taxes and they spend it however they want.

I don't support war

I do understand social movements of people, nothing changes without struggle. The occupy movement folks that I have had contact with also seem to understand that and I hope the movement can somehow define itself and include a diverse population including Class socioeconic divisions

I'm an old hippy with high hopes, I remember history of the movement, also the violence perpertrated on protesters, Im not looking to be pepper sprayed, or be shot with rubber bullets or other projectiles, I guess I would have to know what I am standing up for, how we are going to accomplish those goals and be in agreement with whatever stand

Right now I am just confused.

poem-My Homelessness

My Homelessness

Don't concern yourself with
When, why or how I got here
The road taken was not my choice
Just know I battled demons
On this lonely desolate Road
I boldly confront you daily
Endlessly, seeking your money
But what I desperately need
Is a moment of your time
A glance, a smile, a hello
A resemblance of pure love
So don't pretend I'm invisible
Treading over me continuously
Ignoring my worldly existence
This tired, weary and broken body
Of shivering bones, parched lips
Lives in a hole in the ground
Or a thin cardboard Shelter
Mostly alone, cold and hungry
I don't want your artificial pity
Or bold unsolicited comments
I fiercely want what we all want
To desperately not be invisible
I AM HUMAN AFTER ALL.


submitted via email

Dennis (aka Binky) Hudson

August 6, 1961-April 3 2011

I met Dennis in the spring of 2000. He had just arrive from Portsmouth and was rough sleeping in the park. He quickly became involved with our project. The first year he simply got acclimated to the city. On Decemeber 21st he led us in reading the names for National Homeless Memorial Day. ( picture above)

He served on our speakers bureau,and has spoken at every college in NH and on to Harvard. He was a reporter for the Under The Bridge Street News. He went to Covington Kentucky with us and the National Coalition for the Homeless Rapid Response team. Later he also went to Washington DC for the National Bringing America Home Conference.
He loved talking with students about social and economic justice and in 2003 he starred in a UNH student film called "Lost and Found" he played the leading role of Dexter. The film won awards at the NH film festival.
If you want to copy and paste this link you can read about it in the student newsletter and see a good picture of him.( think its the 3rd page)

http://www.unhm.unh.edu/pdf/millworks/2004-millworks-winter.pdf

2007 brought a dibilitaing illness and a coma and when he was released from the hospital his was severly compromised. He was housed and doing the best he could do when he succumbed to his illness.

He will be surely missed by many. We held memorial in the park at his favorite bench.
May you walk in Beauty Forever Binky
Aho!

Leeland - Tears From the Saints / Tears of The Saints

Billy Beaulac

Published on Concord Monitor (http://www.concordmonitor.com)


Home > 'We were always glad to see him'

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'We were always glad to see him'
By Ray Duckler
Created 09/25/2010 - 00:00
Concord
Friends remember homeless man
Few people eating lunch at the Friendly Kitchen yesterday knew that their friend, Billy Beaulac, had died.

Word of the 46-year-old homeless man's death set off a chain reaction of emotion, widening eyes through the dining room and stopping forks in midair.

"Billy?" Cori Edwards asked upon hearing the news. "Oh my God."

The police found Beaulac in his tent Thursday in a wooded area near the Concord/Bow line. It was unclear yesterday how he died or how long he'd been dead. The state police suspect past medical issues played a part.

What's clear, however, is that Beaulac made his presence known. That became obvious when Edwards quickly rose from her seat, leaving her food and pigtailed 13-month-old daughter, Tessa, behind. She ran outside to cry alone, then came back, composed and reflective.

"He loved my daughter," Edwards said. "He'd go out of his way to be nice to her. He was the local drunk, but he was sweet."

Everyone said the same thing about Beaulac. He drank too much. He fought a lot. He tried to dry out. And he was loyal like Lassie.

Beyond that, Beaulac was a mystery to his friends here. That's the way it is in the homeless community. Yesterday no longer counts. Today is what's important.

"Nope, never asked him about his past," said Jay Woody, a 27-year-old couch surfer from Concord. "None of my business."

Dig a little, and you find the story of a man born and raised in Berlin who never quite found his niche.

Lise Beaulac still lives in Berlin. She married Billy's only brother, Thomas, who died from pancreatic cancer six years ago. She remembers a good side.

"When he was sober," she said, "and I'm going back as far as a teenager now, when he was a young, young boy he was a sweet kid."

But Lise saw another side. The troubled side. The side that followed her former brother-in-law until he died.

"He lost his mother at a young age and never really recovered from that," Lise said, "even though his family tried to help him."

The road became rough, his drinking a problem. Beaulac spent 20 months in the state prison as an habitual offender. He moved in and out of rehab, forever trying to straighten out. He spent nights last winter in the homeless shelter at the First Congregational Church, where the Rev. David Keller has tried to open doors for the homeless.

"We were always glad to see him," Keller said. "In recent weeks he realized he needed help again. His past created circumstances that made it difficult for him."

His friends at the Friendly Kitchen saw Beaulac's temper, drawn out from beer, sometimes vodka.

"When he got drunk he was a little bit rough, but not too bad," Randall Russell said. "As long as you didn't get on the bad side of him, you were all right."

"He got drunk and did stupid things, but he was an awesome guy," Donna Gove added. "My kids loved him."

Kids were mentioned a lot. They brought out the softness in Beaulac, a light that had been dimmed years before. Others spoke about a guy who always had your back.

"He told me he loved me all the time," Woody said. "He was worried about me. If he didn't see me for a week, when he saw me, he'd come up to me and give me a hug."

Benji Castro says Beaulac saved his life. "I fell in the river once, and he got me out," Castro said. "I knew him for a couple of years. He was one of my best friends."

Castro met Beaulac about a year ago, hosting him at his campsite behind Everett Arena, one of many areas that the city's homeless call home. Some met Beaulac near the railroad tracks behind Market Basket, others under the bridge near Interstate 393.

No one knows how long Beaulac had stayed near Exit 12, off South Main Street. A trip to his campsite tells you Beaulac lived there alone.

Five boulders guard the entrance to a narrow path. Just inside the boulders is a bucket holding trash, mostly coffee cups and plastic water bottles. Empty cans of cat food sit nearby.

The trail cuts to the right, where yellow police tape hugs its edge, twisting like a snake. The buzz from Interstate 93 is audible, the tops of cars whizzing by visible.

A hard left leads you to Beaulac's campsite. There's a tent with a mattress inside, shaded by a camouflage canopy and thick, tall trees.

It's secluded, the perfect space to get away, to hide, to sleep in peace.

There's a gas grill, sleeping bags, three white chairs, boxes of clothing, a big plastic bag full of aluminum cans, blue jeans draped over a branch and work boots sitting side by side near the tent's entrance.

There's also a black leather vest, Beaulac's signature piece of clothing, sitting on top of a black leather jacket, with orange flames on the sleeves.

A fire pit, serving as the living area's center point, contains charred logs, burnt cans, glass bottles and an empty cardboard box once filled with donuts.

An orange and white cat, purring, skinny, friendly, roams around, with no place to go.

(Ray Duckler can be reached at rduckler@cmonitor.com [1].)

Human InterestCONCORD (NH)Billy Beaulac

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Source URL: http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/217747/we-were-always-glad-to-see-him
Links:
[1] mailto:rduckler@cmonitor.com


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winter is on the way

Seven Hundred Killed from Hypothermia Annually in United States

Seven-hundred people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness are killed from hypothermia annually in the United States. Forty-four percent of the nation’s homeless are unsheltered. From the urban streets of our populated cities to the remote back-country of rural America, hypothermia - or subnormal temperature in the body - remains a leading, critical and preventable cause of injury and death among those experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.
NCH maintains that knowledge, networking and temporary seasonal shelter and outreach are three of the most important elements to an effective regional or local approach to the reduction and prevention of exposure and hypothermia.

This report is a snapshot of winter homeless services nationwide. NCH staff has gathered information for this report from forty states and the District of Columbia, representing urban, suburban and rural communities. NCH interviewed state and local coalitions, healthcare providers, and shelter operators in order to gain the best and broadest possible understanding of cold weather services available through these direct service providers and first responders. There is general consensus among public health officials, medical professionals and service providers that to reduce the incidence of hypothermia nationwide, local communities should implement effective and timely strategies to address the needs of vulnerable populations, including creating temporary homeless shelters and extending the hours of operation for existing shelters.

to get the full report go to


www.nationalhomeless.org

Summer tough for jobless, homeless - NashuaTelegraph.com

Summer tough for jobless, homeless - NashuaTelegraph.com

VASH Vouchers

If you happen to a know a vet in need of housing-send them to local va for info on Vash it is a housing program that comes with 5 years intensive case management, lots of ppl turn them down cuz they dont want interferrence so if you are lucky there might be a few at your local office

tent city Manchester

just my opinion
the artilce states that "most homeless who live outside can't take the shelters.
"They can't deal with the structure of the shelter," Tessier said. "They have mental health issues, or they are so into substance abuse where they can't deal with the setting."

So if this is the case, and many have been booted out of the shlter and banned for varous periods, including "life" where should they live?


Police arrest two, remove tent city
By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader
Saturday, Apr. 3, 2010MANCHESTER – Two homeless people were arrested on trespassing charges Thursday evening when troopers broke up an encampment near the Queen City Avenue exit of Interstate 293, New Hampshire State Police said.
In the preceding days, troopers had twice warned residents of the tent city to leave the state-owned highway right of way, said Lt. Christopher Aucoin. He said police removed about six tents, which had carpeting inside
"We were getting phone calls from motorists about bonfires at night and people walking on the highway ramp with alcohol," Aucoin said. Police consulted with the state Department of Transportation, which asked police to remove the homeless, he said.
Police charged Rebecca Murray, 45, and David Esbourne, 37, with criminal trespass. Aucoin said both were taken to the Valley Street jail, and one was released on personal recognizance Thursday. Neither was listed at the jail last night.
Meanwhile, the director of the largest shelter in the city said dozens of camps used by the homeless exist in the Manchester area.
Some comprise a single, mentally ill person who cannot be around others. Other encampments have several people, said Mike Tessier, director of New Horizons for New Hampshire, the main shelter and soup kitchen for Manchester.
Tessier said the two who were arrested would probably return to the woods.
"They may go to a different location. They may try to cover their places a little bit differently," Tessier said.
As it gets warmer, more homeless people stay outside all night, he said. Trees will soon have leaves, and the encampments will be less visible, but that will change when the leaves fall in autumn.
Aucoin said the encampments present a hazard. The tents and the bonfires are a distraction to motorists exiting I-293 north at Queen City Avenue. As pedestrians, the homeless could get struck on the highway ramp as they walk to the camp. And the camps have no sanitary systems.
He said troopers visited the encampment three times. The first time, troopers asked the homeless to leave. The second time, they asked for names and identification of about eight people.
Murray and Esbourne were arrested on the third visit. State police have asked the DOT to post the property, Aucoin said.
He said DOT workers picked up the belongings, which included tents, bicycles and the carpeting. The belongings will be returned if the owners come forward and ask for them, he said.
"The police aren't looking for situations like this; the public brings it to our attention," Aucoin said. He said troopers encouraged the homeless to use shelters in Manchester and provided information about the temporary housing.
But Tessier said most homeless who live outside can't take the shelters.
"They can't deal with the structure of the shelter," Tessier said. "They have mental health issues, or they are so into substance abuse where they can't deal with the setting."
He said the city, Catholic Medical Center, New Horizons and other agencies provide nurses, mental health workers, social service workers and others to aid the homeless. Part of that work involves encouraging the homeless people to take advantage of services.
A former police officer, Tessier said he used to break up homeless encampments. He said Manchester police only do so at the request of property owners.
"The tent cities, they've been around forever," Tessier said. "When only the railroad yard was there, no one cared. Now there's a baseball stadium and condos. That's why people are seen more often."

NCH Tent Cities in America: A Pacific Coast Report

Tent Cities in America: A Pacific Coast Report

The National Coalition for the Homeless announces the first in a series of reports on the growing number of tent cities across the United States. The new report released today is focusing on west coast encampments. Tent Cities in America: A Pacific Coast Report looks at how current tent cities have emerged and operate on a daily basis, highlighting the community organizing efforts at work within these settlements and the growing need for affordable and accessible housing nationwide.

As the United States continues to react to the worst economy since the Great Depression, both leading and lagging indicators of this crisis continue to grow. Home foreclosures, unemployment, and the regional poverty rates continue to rise, as newly homelessness families see a double digit increase.

44% of people experiencing homeless in America are unsheltered (USHUD 2009). A growing number of unsheltered Americans are congregating in tent cities for safety, community and as locations of last resort.

“Tent Cities are American’s de facto waiting room for affordable and accessible housing. The idea of someone living in a tent in this country says little about the decisions made by those who dwell within and so much more about our nation’s inability to adequately respond to our fellow residents in need.” -Neil Donovan, National Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director.

This report is the first in a series of National Coalition for the Homeless publications that explore the tent city phenomenon. In future reports, NCH will profile homeless encampments nationwide and include a section on policy recommendations for local, regional and national policy and decision makers.


Go to www.nationalhomeless.org to read the full report

WMUR TV 9 NH Homeless Struggle With Survival

WMUR-TV 9
http://www.wmur.com/news/22697492/detail.html (video Not included)
NH Homeless Struggle With Survival
POSTED: 11:15 am EST February 28, 2010



MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Every night, hundreds of people struggle to survive on the streets of Nashua, Manchester and Concord. Hundreds more couch surf, relying on the good will of friends and relatives for shelter and warmth.

At one point, the city of Manchester launched a 10-year plan to end homelessness, but then the recession and housing crisis hit making the plan a challenge.

One morning in late January, News 9's Amy Coveno set out in Manchester with 24 volunteers in search of those living outside.

Pointing at a couple of pallets and a pile of blankets along some railroad tracks, Families in Transition team leader Joe and outreach worker Matt say they've found a camp someone is actively using as a home.

"This is the bed that they're sleeping on and just your basic protection from the elements from the top," said Matt.

More signs are seen under the Amoskeag Bridge. What may look like trash to the casual observer turns out to be three homeless camps actively being used.

Joe said it's a reality that he knows all too well as he spent a year homeless and surviving the elements himself. Joe said he now devotes himself to supporting the homeless.

"When you're out there all night, especially at like three o'clock in the morning and the temperature really drops, it's hard to get warm," said Joe.

Joe said he wants to prove that there is more than one face of homelessness.

Proof comes from a mother of four named Zanita living in a one bedroom apartment with her children.

Zanita said the apartment from "The Way Home Housing Resource Center" was her way out of atrocious conditions in a rooming house. Zanita lost her former apartment in 2007 and was on the brink of being left on the streets. Her family spent three months couch hopping before ending up in a bug-infested rooming house for two years.

"I would roll over my son and his belly had a little hive there, he was sleeping. He didn't even know they were just eating, just sucking his blood," said Zanita.

Zanita said she would stay up all night with a flashlight chasing bugs off her children. She said she cried for three days when she got the keys to her current apartment. The apartment is a temporary respite, however, as Zanita has until the end of the summer to find a permanent home and a job.

Not all homeless choose to stay in shelters, however.

Albee O'Clair said he's been homeless for 10 years and has lived in a makeshift tent for six of them. He said living inside makes him claustrophobic.

When asked how he bathes or gets clean, he motions to the river just feet away from his shelter.

"Sometimes you have to go in there to wash up," said O'Clair.

O'Clair showed Coveno the inside of his tent. It contained blankets, a lit candle and a propane stove. He says his most prized possession is a cat named Sheba who keeps him company and keeps him warm.

As it stands, nearly 50 homeless programs operate in the state, funded by more than $5 million in Housing and Urban Development Grants. People who work with the homeless say the populations is often invisible but they strive to make sure people like Zanita and Albee are not ignored.

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