SARATOGA SPRINGS — Three months into his regime as the city’s new mayor, John Safford announced that he – as the mayor before him and the mayor before that had done – was seeking solutions to a question that has remained unresolved for several years: What can be done to combat homelessness in the community?
“I’ve started to pull together various providers and stakeholders with mutual concern over the unhoused population,” said the mayor, identifying local agencies RISE, SOS, and Healing Springs, as well as members of the county as attendants of the Saratoga Homeless Strategy meeting.
“This meeting was all about getting these folks talking again. My main focus is bringing the county together with the city, stakeholders that haven’t been talking lately, and getting them in the same room,” said Safford, specifying that he has no current plans to form an official committee, although he intends other members of the council to be involved in some way.
“My goal is effective zero. I want to have plans in place so that people coming in equal the number of people getting housed,” the mayor said. “You’re never going to completely eliminate homelessness, but we’re committed to building some kind of 24-hour safe place for the homeless to go with services.” The “safe place” could be centered in the city or possibly elsewhere in the county. “It doesn’t have to be in Saratoga Springs. Timewise, we’re under the gun to do something, because the current shelter I think we only have available through next winter.”
The past decade has seen greater prominence by local agencies such as Shelters of Saratoga (S0S) and RISE Housing and Support Services, fundraising from both the private and public sector, and the increase of multiple temporary and emergency shelters sited across the city, but a permanent location has been difficult to secure. On more than one occasion when a long-term remedy was believed to be found, those with interests in geographic proximity to a site proposed for a year-round, 24/7 shelter nixed the plans.
Last year, an ad hoc Task Force on Homelessness instituted by then-Mayor Ron Kim evaluated approximately two dozen sites across the city that could potentially site a permanent homeless shelter and navigation center.
The group ultimately identified a 3.7-acre lot on Lake Avenue/ State Route 29 – located between the Northway overpass and a Stewart’s Shop near Weibel Avenue – as a primary site, and parcels on South Broadway, Route 9, and Maple Avenue as potential alternatives. Alongside possibilities, each of the venues also presented challenges – from area variances that would need to be secured and likely opposition of some area residents, to the lack of geographic proximity to agencies providing social services and access to public transportation.
“We are taking into account what the Task Force came up with, which is mainly locations. They had three or four locations that are still in play,” Safford said.
“I’m very dedicated to getting this done, but doing it the right way,” the mayor continued. “This includes addiction and mental health. My concern is in the homeless population (and) we also have addiction and mental health problems that create problems if you do housing first. My view of what we have to do is higher than just housing. My goal is to address not only housing but also strategies to effectively deal with addiction, and mental health issues.”
In engaging other services in the discussion, Safford specifically referenced a program initiated with the involvement of Healing Springs Recovery Community and Outreach Center that addresses addictions and operates at the Saratoga County Jail.
Ben Deeb, a Certified Recovery Peer Advocate (CRPA) and Certified Addictions Recovery Coach (CARC), was an employee at Healing Springs and began working with the Sheriff’s Department five years ago to create a recovery unit at Saratoga County Jail. Today, there is a 48-man recovery unit that features 13 hours per week of programs for individuals with opiate use disorder and alcohol use disorder in a specially designated unit at the jail.
“In 2019 we were able to rehab a unit and designate that for individuals in recovery so that they would have an environment conducive to change,” Deeb said. “In order to gain any ground for recovery, you need to have a space that can promote change.”
The success rate is measurable. A study conducted with the University of Wisconsin showed a large drop in the recidivism rate of people in the county based program, compared to the national average recidivism rate. “Saratoga’s really a leader in this,” Deeb said.
Mayor Safford said he intends to provide regular public updates at council meetings regarding the city’s efforts to combat homelessness.
