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Volunteer outreach reports engagement center usage rising; volunteers urge weekend patrols as temperatures drop
Summary
A resident volunteer reported the 39 Beech Street engagement center is seeing 50–60 people nightly and urged extra weekend patrols for an estimated 10–15 people who may not use the center; the board said discussions with nonprofits about warming-shelter expansion will continue.
Paul Galasso provided an update on homelessness response efforts, saying the engagement center at 39 Beech Street has been open 7 p.m.–7 a.m. and is seeing 50–60 people per night compared with prior counts. He said a small group—"probably 10, 15 people"—are unlikely to relocate to the center and urged city resources (police, security or volunteers) to patrol corners of the Merrimack and Manchester Street areas during the cold weekend to protect the most at-risk individuals.
The chair thanked Galasso and said the city is in active conversations with several nonprofits about expansion of warming-shelter capacity to March; details and formal proposals remain under discussion and will be brought back to the board for consideration.
