As Albany County and city officials announce new programs to broaden mental health services and shelter the unhoused, people on the margins continue to face uncertainty.
Officials are vowing to boost mental health programs and services by bringing into the city ACCORD, the Albany County Crisis Officials Responding and Diverting Program, which diverts non-violent emergency calls from police to mental health professionals, expanding CARES [Albany Community Access to Resources and Services], increasing funding for the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, known as LEAD, and reopening the former Mercy House homeless shelter.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan: "And we want our community to know we care, we desperately want to help those who need help. But we also want to ensure that our residents have a sense of safety when they walk down our streets, a sense of safety when they go to our parks."
On Wednesday, the city forced a group out of Washington Park where they had been living in tents.
"We don't allow camping in our parks without a permit," Sheehan said. "And even then it's not something that we typically permit. But if those tents are being removed, they're being removed by individuals who are able to connect people to resources."
A spokesman for the mayor tells WAMC that year to date, officials, quote, "have received four times the number of complaints about encampments compared to 2022. Those complaints are shared with DGS and APD and encampments are removed regularly. The Albany City Code is very clear: our parks close no later than 11pm, and it is therefore illegal to camp in any park. Mayor Sheehan feels strongly that our parks are public amenities designed for the enjoyment of all our residents and visitors - not a place for some to exclusively claim a portion of and live indefinitely."
Liz Hitt, executive director of the Homeless and Travelers Aid Society, says while she is thrilled to see the city and county joining forces to help the unhoused, there is a process one must follow to find shelter.
"People need to go to the Department of Social Services in their county, that's very important," said Hitt. "So if you live in Saratoga, you need to be assisted in Saratoga. Same thing is true in Albany, as it is in Schenectady, and Rensselaer County. So there's a process, there is some paperwork, it does take a little bit of time. However, if you are homeless, and unsheltered, all of us will do our level best to make sure... Understandably, as I'm sure you can imagine, some people don't like to go through that process. That's their choice. And we certainly respect that. I often hear from people on the street directly, that they don't want to go through that process. And I have a lot of respect for that. People have the right to make that decision. So but if you go through that process, you will be assisted."
Sheehan's spokesman says the mayor is "very sympathetic to what homeless individuals are dealing with, and that's why we're funding organizations that help support connecting them with the resources needed to get rehoused."
One evictee from the park told WTEN her group avoids shelters, fearing they'll be robbed and not wanting to be exposed to drug use.
City Hall says tent evictees were given information about how to access housing resources but beyond that their fate is not known.
