PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Representatives from various city service agencies put their heads together at SEPTA headquarters Wednesday afternoon to talk about ways to transition more people from homelessness to permanent housing.
The focus of this, the second meeting of Mayor Jim Kenney’s Shared Public Spaces workgroup, was on the challenges associated with finding help for people who find themselves with nowhere to go.
“It’s not a litter problem. These are human beings who have real needs,” said Liz Hersh, director of the city’s Office of Homeless Services. “And so, people coming together and working together on real solutions, you know, that’s where the magic happens.”
She said it’s important for people to feel hopeful that, collectively, we can end homelessness — “and understanding that there are things that we can do if we have the resources to do them.”
People living at SEPTA stations has been a particular problem in Kensington, Center City and at 69th Street, said Ken Divers, SEPTA’s director of outreach programs.
Divers said he has seen progress, however, with last year’s homeless count of 562 down by 35% this year.
He says outreach workers sometimes must offer services 20 to 30 times before a person with nowhere to live will accept help. In the meantime, he says, SEPTA asks people to move along.
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“Believe it or not, 70% actually leave the system. Do they come back? Absolutely. But we are resolute. Our teams are there. When they come back, we engage them and remove them again.”
Until they’re ready to accept help.
But Divers says more capacity is needed. He says gatherings like Kenney’s Shared Public Spaces workgroup are designed to raise public awareness about the need for more affordable housing.
“Speak to your elected officials so that we can get more affordable housing units. And also we need more funding. Because SEPTA cannot continue to foot this bill alone.”
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