DOWNTOWN CROSSING – Jason, 33, sat on the floor by the entrance of the emergency shelter at the Boston Rescue Mission. He was holding a bandage on the right side of his head. He had just gotten stitches but was still bleeding. The night before, at another homeless shelter, he defended a woman from being struck in the head with a brick.After coming back from duty in Iraq in November 2005, Jason said he started abusing drugs and has been homeless for two years.
"I got back from Iraq and after seeing too many people dying and getting killed I started abusing drugs," Jason said.
The number of homeless people in the city has increased by almost 4 percent since last year. And this year the state Department of Transitional Assistance cut the money for emergency shelters to provide the homeless housing.
Mike Way, director of the Boston Rescue Mission on Kingston Street, said emergency shelters are not part of the city’s budget. What they receive depends on how much money the city has from other programs that could be used for overflow beds. Way said out of the 78 overflow emergency beds at the Rescue Mission, 50 beds will be cut in April.
"It sucks for these guys," Jason said, referring to the people in the emergency homeless shelter.
He is waiting to receive his disabilities benefits from the government. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and knee injuries.
Way said the Department of Transitional Assistance is making an effort to provide permanent housing, but he is unsure if cutting the budget for emergency shelters is the most effective way.
"Hopefully there will be other programs that will make emergency shelters unnecessary," Way said.
John Samman, president of the Boston Rescue Mission, said there is not enough money for housing and other programs.
Five years ago, the Department of Transitional Assistance operated the emergency shelters all year long. The Rescue Mission’s emergency shelter received $20,000 a month for two to three months over the winter. This year the program will last from Dec. 2007 until April 2008 because the city did not want to see people on the streets. The emergency shelter program will be permanently cut on April 15.
According to the homeless census in December, there are 6,901 homeless people in Boston. Compared to the census from 2006 the number of homeless families has increased by 17 percent and children by 21 percent. The number of homeless adults has decreased by almost 5 percent and the street count by 40 percent.
In a statement, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said a decrease in the number of homeless people living in the streets and fewer adults in emergency shelters is because more individuals are in permanent housing.
"This is terrific news," he said. "Housing is the solution to homelessness."
Samaan said the problem with the one day homeless count is that it is inaccurate. According to the 2008 census, the number of homeless individuals has decreased, but Samaan said it might be because the shelter received money two days before the count and people did not have enough time to hear about it and use the facilities. The beds weren’t filled, so the city thought the numbers had decreased.
Samaan said the waiting list for housing is long, which makes it hard to meet all of the demands of the homeless population. He said there is not enough permanent housing for homeless people who have finished self-sufficiency programs.
"There is no one bullet that can end homelessness," Samaan said. "You have to keep on investing in successful programs."