Albany County is promoting a new effort to address homelessness.
Albany Navigates is a collaboration between the county, the City of Albany, and non-profit CARES of New York. The outreach effort is meant to go directly to the county’s unhoused individuals to connect them with needed services.
Speaking in Albany Monday, County Executive Dan McCoy says the program, which began in June, is an effort to address a problem which the Democrat says has worsened since the COVID pandemic.
“These are our neighbors, our friends, our family, veterans and youth who have fallen on hard times and need urgent support. We know the solution that works, supporting housing, mental health and addiction treatment are critical, but we need to be proactive and reach these populations and meet people where they are in order to connect them with services,” McCoy said.
As of January of this year, nearly 700 people were experiencing homelessness in Albany County.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan, a fellow Democrat, calls homelessness a public safety issue.
“A lot of people are concerned when they see people who clearly are either homeless or unstably housed, when they see people who appear to be under the influence of serious narcotics, we certainly have seen an increase in the number of overdoses and overdose responses, and we have folks that are coming here from really all over the region,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan says the increase in homelessness in the city has been driven by people coming to Albany in search of services.
Democratic Ward 6 common council member Gabriella Romero, who is running for State Assembly, supports the new partnership.
“This program came out of really rigorous advocacy between myself as a council member representing the sixth Ward and the late Matt Peter, who is a county legislator, representing essentially the same district in the county and the county legislature, him and myself noticed an uptick in the amount of unhoused people on Lark Street,” Romero said.
Liz Mosier is Director of Special Initiatives for CARES. Mosier says an outreach van program from Joseph's House and Shelter is connecting unhoused people in Albany with services.
Mosier says since June, 45 people have been enrolled in Albany Navigates.
“Of these 45 clients, 31 percent of them have been connected to behavioral health services. 7 percent of the enrolled are now housed, and 7 percent still wait their move in dates,” Mosier said.
County Legislature Deputy Chair Wanda Willingham says the problem of homelessness is more common than people think. She told a story about a recent call from a longtime acquaintance.
“She was crying about her sister who had some mental health issues, who refused to live any longer with her mother, but she was on the streets. She was going to be released from some mental health services at Albany Med, and they were trying the best they could do to try to get her to stay in a place where they knew that she was going to be safe,” Willingham said.
The city and county will contribute a combined $1.8 million to Albany Navigates over the next three years.
