By Nick Buglione
The grant comes just weeks after Robert Lundy, a homeless man living in a makeshift encampment along the Meadowbrook Parkway in East Meadow, was murdered in Eisenhower Park.
Lundy's murder has shone a spotlight on homelessness in Nassau County, though the incident did not directly bring about the grant. "We are committed to addressing homelessness in Nassau County," said Suozzi. "This grant, along with the work of programs already in place, will help us respond to the real needs of the homeless."
The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance awarded the grant, which will make available $218,927 a year over five years, under its Homeless Intervention Program.
"This program really is going to afford us the opportunity to provide case management on a longer-term basis," said Connie Lassandro, co-chairwoman of the Nassau County Homeless Task Force. Lassandro is also the director of Section 8 Housing in the county Office of Housing and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Through case management, homeless people can receive services they need, including housing, health care, or drug and alcohol rehabilitation, Lassandro said. With the grant, the county's Department of Social Services will be able to provide these services for at least a year, if not longer, she said.
Developing self-sufficiency among the homeless is the county's ultimate goal. If the county can prove that it has put the grant money to good use, it could be eligible for more funding through the Homeless Intervention Program.
"It really depends on the amount of housing retention we can quantify," Lassandro said -- that is, how many homeless people have been provided housing and remained there.
Offering services to the homeless is often the easy part. Getting them to accept them is often another story. Though many homeless actively seek out county services, they tend to be women with children. Getting through to the homeless living in the tents and lean-tos in the woods along county parkways is more difficult, officials said.
These homeless tend to be single men, some of them veterans, who have grown accustomed to living on their own, a recent Herald report indicated. Wary of the government, they often prefer remaining homeless to entering a shelter.
For more information about Nassau County's Homeless Intervention Program, call Connie Lassandro at (516) 571-0370.
