DANVERS — The town is making headway in addressing the needs of 120 homeless families from across the region who have been moved into local motels in recent weeks.
With school letting out, the town is scrambling to create a playground program for homeless kids who would otherwise be left to play in motel parking lots along the highway all summer, Town Manager Wayne Marquis said.
"That's not Danvers," Marquis said.
And earlier this week, state Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, announced that the Danvers food pantry will still get the services of a state social worker, whose contract was set to expire July 1, along with others around the commonwealth, due to budget cuts. The contracts have been extended for six months.
The six-week playground program is being designed to accommodate 40 kids ages 6 to 14, said Recreation Director David Mountain. The program most likely will be housed at the Highlands School on Hobart Street.
"It's a big work in progress right now," Mountain said of the program, which is being modeled after one the town ran with Peabody seven years ago. The plan is to serve children breakfast, snacks and lunch prepared by senior citizen volunteers through the food pantry. Children will also be taken on field trips, and participate in other playground programs.
The summer program will cost $25,000 for staffing, transportation, food and supplies. However, it's money the town does not have in its budget, so donations to the Danvers Community Council would be appreciated to defray the cost, Marquis said.
"They are our residents," Marquis said of the children in motels. "We have a responsibility, the way I see it."
Danvers officials said social workers are a "lifeline" in the town's efforts, including the food pantry and the summer camp program.
In fact, when Barbara Remon, the food pantry's co-chairwoman, heard the social worker may no longer be working with the town, she called Speliotis. The contract extensions were announced late Wednesday.
The social worker deals with big issues as well as smaller ones. If a child is having a birthday, for example, the social worker relays that information to the pantry, which then includes a toy in the regular delivery of the bag of groceries, Remon said.
The food pantry, which is staffed by 20 volunteers, provides regular deliveries of groceries to those living in motels. The social worker also helps with any language barriers that may arise, and provides information to the food pantry if someone has not received state assistance but is in need of food.
Remon said the food pantry's resources are being stretched by the influx of homeless to motels. Danvers motels housed 68 families with 84 children as of April 27; that had jumped to 120 families with 168 children as of Tuesday.
The numbers are approaching peak levels reached in the fall of 2009 when the state said 138 families were temporarily sheltered in Danvers motels.
Homeless families from around the state are placed in motels when the state's shelter system fills to capacity. The state has attributed this latest spike to the exhaustion of federal stimulus money that was used to pay rent subsidies.
Come July 1, there will be additional social workers helping motel families, thanks to a new state "home-based" program and a push to get families out of motels and into apartments, said Beth Hogan, executive director of Peabody-based North Shore Community Action Programs.
"Our main goal will be to get people housed," Hogan said, with a program emphasizing support, education, training, housing searches and other economic supports. Hogan blamed a systemic lack of jobs for low-income people, the sluggish economic recovery and the high cost of housing on the North Shore for the increase in homeless families living in motels.
WANT TO HELP?
To support the Danvers food pantry:
Send a check payable to the Danvers People to People Food Pantry, P.O. Box 2076, Danvers MA 01923.
The food pantry also accepts donations of nonperishable food, diapers, baby wipes, detergent, soap and other personal care items. Drop off donations at the pantry at 12 Sylvan St., across from Town Hall. Donations can also be dropped off at the YMCA on Pickering Street or the Danvers library, 15 Sylvan St.
The pantry is open Mondays and Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. It will close June 30 for two weeks and reopen July 18.
TO support the summer program:
Send a tax-deductible donation to the Danvers Community Council, c/o Town Hall, 1 Sylvan St., Danvers MA 01923.
Businesses can help provide resources for the program, such as defraying the cost of field trips or providing donations of food for lunches. For more information, contact Recreation Director David Mountain or Program Manager Cheryl Marshall at 978-777-0001, ext. 3094.
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