Care Network Brings Unhoused ‘In From The Streets’
By KATIE NELSON, The Falmouth Enterprise
Across Cape Cod, an estimated 500 individuals have unstable housing or no housing at all.
In a presentation to the Affordable Housing Committee in November, Gina Torielli, vice chairwoman of the committee and executive director of the nonprofit organization Belonging to Each Other, said an estimated 30% of individuals experiencing homelessness on Cape Cod are in Falmouth.
As winter conditions intensify, organizations and town departments work together to save the lives of individuals living in “unsuitable conditions”—in their cars, for instance, or entirely outdoors. The Cape’s only emergency shelter can hold only 50 individuals, and only those who have completed the required paperwork and meet eligibility criteria are able to receive shelter.
Often, individuals seeking emergency shelter are sent out of the area—to Lowell, New Bedford, or Plymouth—where beds may be available, Torielli said.
Shelter from the elements can mean the difference between life and death. Suzie Hauptmann, director of Falmouth Human Services, said Duffy Health Center’s In From the Streets program has undoubtedly saved hundreds of lives in Falmouth. The program expanded to Falmouth in 2023, Cassi Danzl, chief operating officer of the Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC), said, because the need for support in town had become substantial. Collecting data on how many people are experiencing homelessness is challenging, but Danzl estimated that roughly 70 to 100 people in Falmouth are without permanent or stable housing.
Duffy Health Center’s In From the Streets program places up to 26 individuals experiencing homelessness in a Falmouth-area hotel, where 13 rooms are reserved for the program. It operates when overnight temperatures are projected to fall below 32 degrees or during extreme heat events. Since Thanksgiving, overnight temperatures have dipped below freezing on more than 30 days.
To maximize capacity, individuals who need a safe place to stay may double up in rooms. In the event of an overflow, the Falmouth Service Center pays for up to three additional rooms.
In From the Streets operates year-round during severe weather events and works to connect individuals with services offered by community partners. Case management services are provided by HAC and the Falmouth Human Services Department. Food distribution and access to clothing and sanitary items are available through the Falmouth Service Center, which also offers private space for case managers to meet with clients with dignity and confidentiality. Belonging to Each Other assists individuals with transitional housing during the winter months and provides housing services year-round.
Navigating housing assistance applications, housing lotteries, waitlists, and short-term stabilization housing can be challenging. Danzl described housing as “a convoluted network” in an interview with the Enterprise.
Hauptmann explained that state-funded programs and shelters do not always allow agencies to assist individuals immediately. People may need to prove their homeless status and have that information verified before accessing certain programs, which can take days or weeks.
She offered a hypothetical example: if an individual experiencing homelessness requests an available emergency shelter bed, they may remain unhoused while the state verifies their status. By the time that process is complete, the bed may no longer be available.
When state processes move slowly, Hauptmann said, the community steps in to provide rapid support. “The In From the Streets program has saved hundreds of lives,” she said.
Danzl credited a “dedicated core of community partnerships” that work collaboratively to ensure people are connected to needed services.
This essential service network includes representatives from the Falmouth Human Services Department, the Falmouth Service Center, Belonging to Each Other, HAC, Duffy Health Center, and the Falmouth Police Department. The group meets twice per month to coordinate efforts, avoid duplication and distribute resources effectively.
Homeless outreach specialists, such as HAC’s Stéphane Ruault, meet individuals wherever they are and help coordinate services. Ruault may meet clients in meeting rooms at the Falmouth Service Center, where individuals can also access food distribution. Outreach specialists may help individuals find emergency accommodations or connect them to medical or mental health treatment. They also assist with registering for housing waitlists or applying for housing lotteries—tasks that can be daunting without guidance. Having a case manager, Danzl said, is like having a “housing translator.”
Molly Marshall and Stephanie Daugherty are behavioral health clinicians with the Falmouth Police Department. Marshall said that twice per month, clinicians and police officers visit areas where chronically homeless individuals stay to increase outreach and connect people to services.
Falmouth Service Center Executive Director Kerin S. Delaney said the essential service network represents the best example of collaboration in town. “We’re each responsible for a component for the greater good,” she said.
Volunteers from Belonging to Each Other prepare frozen, microwavable meals twice per month in the Service Center’s commercial kitchen. The organization also operates a van that transports clients to Saint Barnabas’s Episcopal Church, where they can receive a free lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays and connect to additional services through the A Place at the Table program. The church also provides temporary housing for women.
When asked what the community may misunderstand about the unhoused population in Falmouth, Marshall said, “For the most part, the people we are working with are Falmouth residents.” She added that people cannot reasonably be expected to leave their community and support systems to find housing elsewhere. Combined with limited housing options in Falmouth, she said, this contributes to ongoing chronic homelessness.
Hauptmann said residents who want to help can donate money, volunteer their time, or provide material support to the organizations that form the safety net for individuals experiencing homelessness.
January is projected to have 17 additional nights with temperatures below freezing. Understanding the need and the complexity of housing, Danzl said, can lead to sleepless nights for providers. “You’ll never sleep through a storm the same way again,” she said.
