ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 1996 TAG: 9604300094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
He'd wandered into a shelter a few days before Valentine's Day, so disoriented he couldn't find his way home.
Maurice Ferguson and Dianne Dickson, members of Roanoke's Homeless Assistance Team, did some checking, found out he was a veteran, 67 years old. They took him to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem.
"He was in such bad condition," Ferguson said. "He had gangrene. They had trouble getting his shoe off because of the gangrene. His toes had rotted off."
He was young, in the final stages of AIDS, so confused that he'd forgotten his wife had died of the same disease two years earlier. He'd forgotten who was caring for his three children.
"We found him out there, not making a lot of sense," Ferguson said. "We managed to track his parents and get his mother's input, get the health department involved. They knew him, but they'd lost contact with this guy.
"He was just out there."
Since January, Roanoke's Homeless Assistance Team - HAT for short - has combed the city streets and shelters for homeless people and linked them to immediate or long-term services.
Today, the team's work ends because of the expiration of a federal grant contract.
"We're not these knee-jerks who think they can pull the world up by the bootstraps or save someone who doesn't want to be saved," Ferguson said. "But we did some damned good crisis intervention out there. I reckon that's what hurts."
Last year, Roanoke received a grant through the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services - money that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development set aside for innovative initiatives for the homeless during the winter months.
Nine localities shared an $808,000 pie. Roanoke's piece was $85,000. Of the nine localities, Roanoke's use of the grant funding was unique, said Michael Shank, state mental health program consultant.
The city used the funds to establish a four-person team that could move the homeless off the streets, through shelters and into permanent housing - or hospitals, if needed.
The one-time, nonrenewable grant was set up to run November through April. Roanoke officials had asked for an extension to operate the program through June, as had several other of the nine localities. The extension requests were turned down, even though funding had not run out.
"In order for us to [extend the grant], we needed to get permission from HUD and amend our contract," Shank said. HUD declined to amend the contract but did agree to revise it so the state wouldn't have to give leftover funding back to the federal government, he said.
"We're working on allocating unspent funds to either do similar activities next winter or preparatory activities for next winter," he said. "All the sites are facing the same situation that Roanoke is: that the project is ending, and we wish it weren't."
The Homeless Assistance Team exceeded its goal of making 390 contacts in six months. In four months, the team made 403 contacts.
Of those contacts:
* There were 55 families - 63 adults and 108 children.
* 52 were over the age of 51.
* 96 found employment.
* 120 were placed in permanent housing.
"This was one of the best uses of taxpayers' money," said Donna Norvelle, Roanoke's human development coordinator. "We didn't need emergency beds. The team's impact on those 403 people is immeasurable."
Towania Turner, 38, was living with relatives in Roanoke. It was a bad situation, she said. She and her 11-year-old son moved into the Roanoke Rescue Mission.
A Rescue Mission employee gave Turner a Homeless Assistance Team business card. She called. Dianne Dickson came over, despite the late hour.
With Dickson's help, Turner found a job and a subsidized apartment. She'll move in this week.
"I'm so sorry to hear they're not going to have [the team] anymore," Turner said. "There are still a lot of people that need help. They were a big support. They showed me everything was going to be OK."
The team was grounded a week ago. Team members - down to three since February and two since Friday - have been busy compiling a report that will be sent to Shank's office. The city also is submitting a proposal to the state requesting to operate a team next winter with a portion of the unspent funding.
"I have no question about the need being there," Ferguson said. "We found people under bridges, under trailer trucks, several in cars, in tents.
"What we created was a liaison between that world out there and the services that are available throughout the community."
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PAUL L. NEWBY II/Staff. Dianne Dickson is one of twoby CNBremaining members of Roanoke's Homeless Assistance Team. color.