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KEVIN GUTTING

Emilia Perpetua holds her 4-month-old son Adreyan Barry while his twin, Gavin, rests in a playpen at the Jessie’s House family shelter in Amherst. The family moved here after being evicted.

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KEVIN GUTTING

Emilia Perpetua and her boyfriend, Anthony Barry, and their 4-month-old twins Adreyan, foreground, and Gavin, are living at the Jessie’s House family shelter in Amherst.

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KEVIN GUTTING

Emilia Perpetua and her boyfriend, Anthony Barry, play with their 4-month-old twins Adreyan, left, and Gavin, at the Jessie’s House family shelter in Amherst. The family hopes to find permanent housing this spring.

Emilia Perpetua and Anthony Barry were the parents of newborns when they lost their crowded Springfield apartment. Chased north by eviction, the family of four quickly secured a bedroom at Jessie's House in Amherst.

That made them among the lucky ones, for their eviction comes at a time when state and federal funds for new affordable housing projects are being cut, diminishing the chances homeless people have to buy or rent.

Lost governmental support could have an impact on efforts in the Valley to end homelessness, pursued through a "housing-first" model under the "All Roads Lead Home" plan. Through that 10-year program, adopted in 2008, the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness is advocating to provide more housing units for homeless individuals and families - people like Perpetua and Barry.

Both say they have learned a lot after becoming parents and facing the ordeal of homelessness. "I feel like I've grown a lot here and become more responsible," said Perpetua, 19. "It will be a bittersweet experience when we have to leave."

Jessie's House, run by the Center for Human Development, a Springfield nonprofit, provides a place for up to six homeless families and expectant mothers to live until they can secure permanent housing. Each year, between 50 and 60 families call it their home.

The 23-year-old Barry, who works at a pizza restaurant in his hometown of Chicopee, said Jessie's House, to which they were referred by the state Department of Transitional Assistance, has given his family a chance to get back on its feet.

"We want to get solid savings together, for her to finish school and me to get something better going on," Barry said.

Longer-term goal

At a recent quarterly meeting of the network's leadership council, mayors and other municipal officials from throughout the four western counties came together pursue their causes: preventing homelessness, getting people back into housing quickly and stabilizing the housing market so that units are available for people of all income levels.

Pamela Schwartz, director of the network, said the meeting demonstrated that such outreach can provide "maximum coordination of our message and our mission."

"We walked away with commitments to participate on this at a regional level," Schwartz said.

Among those who attended the Jan. 25 summit were David Narkewicz and Michael Tautznik, mayors of Northampton and Easthampton, Amherst Town Manager John Musante, and mayors Bill Martin of Greenfield and Alex Morse of Holyoke.

"We wanted to give new and returning mayors an opportunity to learn about the network's housing-first mission, to invite them to join us and to offer our support in their efforts to end homelessness in their communities," said Lynne Wallace, chairwoman of the leadership council.

Tautznik said he supports the concept that each community in western Massachusetts shares a role in offering housing opportunities that work for all residents.

Specific steps to address homelessness, he said, will depend on the size of the community and resources available. In his city, a primary strategy is the creation of new single-room occupancy rooms. "In a place like Easthampton, we are working to provide more affordable housing," Tautnik said.

Easthampton also has an overflow shelter for the Interfaith Cot Shelter in Northampton, with six beds located in the basement of Our Lady of the Valley Church.

Musante said the conference hosted a good discussion about how to prevent homelessness and get people into housing, as well as the necessary associated support networks. "We're trying to walk the walk," Musante said.

Amherst's work

In Amherst, the winter of 2011-12 marks the third season the town has funded operations of a homeless shelter, and the second one in which guests are able to sleep throughout the night. Known as Craig's Place, the shelter at the First Baptist Church has been at its 16-bed capacity most nights.

While the shelter has proven successful, Musante said the town is making decisions about what objectives to pursue next and how these tie in to the regional approach supported by the network. "We've made a good start," Musante said. "Coordinating with this network is a good and logical next step for the town."

Using Community Development Block Grant money, Musante said, a housing production plan will identify objectives for the town to pursue to increase housing opportunities.

Cities and towns throughout the area are showing various levels of commitments to ending homelessness, with Schwartz saying there is no shortage of activity.

"There's a lot going on with the housing-first model," she said.

Northampton's work

In Northampton, strides continue to be made toward providing more units targeted at homeless individuals, The city over the last few years has dedicated $330,000 in Community Preservation Act money toward two duplexes where 12 individuals are housed.

Yvonne's House on Straw Avenue was purchased for $320,000 in 2008 and provides permanent residences for six people who once struggled with homelessness. The residents pay rent based on their income and receive support services through ServiceNet.

The Gandara-Friends House on Maple Avenue, which the Friends of Hampshire County Homeless Individuals closed on last year for $320,000, is now providing permanent housing for six chronically homeless individuals. These people have a history of substance abuse but are demonstrating a commitment to sobriety.

These individuals are expected to pay 30 percent of their monthly income in rent at the home, which is operated by the Gandara Center, a Springfield-based nonprofit social service agency.

Yvonne Freccero, president of the Friends organization, said there are no plans for additional units for homeless individuals.

"Any future plans will depend on accumulating sufficient savings to undertake another project," Freccero said.

The other efforts to combat homelessness in Northampton include the Interfaith Shelter, where 185 to 225 people stay between November and April, as well as the Grove Street Inn, which hosts 100 to 125 people each year. There is also a drop-in center, run by ServiceNet, where 40 individuals daily do housing searches and receive support services.

Meanwhile, Valley Community Development Corp. owns 114 rental units in Northampton and Amherst, including 23 in Northampton specifically set aside for homeless people.

Five of these new units came online last fall inside a building at 96-98 King St. Each of the enhanced units has its own kitchenette and bathroom.

Besides the King Street project, there are seven enhanced units for the homeless in the Go West building in the center of Florence and an additional 11 rooms on North Maple Street in Florence.

Schwartz said a three-year, $800,000 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant administered through the University of Massachusetts Medical Center will provide support services to 120 chronically homeless individuals with substance abuse and mental health problems.

The state HomeBase rental assistance program continues to help families who are homeless and may be used to get families living in hotels into more permanent residences.

A $10,000 planning grant from the Fireman Foundation will create a two-year plan for education and work force development for homeless families, Schwartz said. The region is receiving consultation services from the UMass Donahue Institute. The work seeks to help homeless families become more independent.

Schwartz said ensuring homeless families have their own homes is ultimately cost-effective. "In the end it saves the state money, it saves the taxpayer money, to provide housing instead of shelter," Schwartz said.

Couple's quest

Perpetua and Barry have already submitted applications to move into a low-income apartment, but are waiting for one to open in Amherst, where they would like to stay. Barry said their time at Jessie's House began in November and is likely to continue through the spring.

"We'll probably be here close to six months," Barry said.

Even as progress is made, challenges lie ahead.

Joanne Campbell, executive director of the Valley CDC, said one issue is that the state funding pipeline for affordable housing developments is clogged.

"There are a lot of good projects but insufficient funding," Campbell said.

She cited Olympia Oaks in Amherst, a HAP Inc. project that will be resubmitted for state funding by a Feb. 10 deadline to the Department of Housing and Community Development. Two of the 42 units at Olympia Oaks will be set aside for homeless families, but the earliest they could be ready for occupancy is October 2013.

Campbell said the network's effort to bring mayors and other municipal officials on board with the housing-first goal could pay dividends.

"If we get the attention of local mayors, they may be able to put pressure on local legislators to fund the state budget to get resources where they need to go," Campbell said.

Creating new affordable units, or homeless-specific units, is also difficult.

Campbell observed that efforts to get the first homeless units in Amherst, at the Mount Pleasant Apartments at 336 and 346 North Pleasant St., fell through when the asking price of $1.3 million was deemed too high to make it work.

Schwartz said the network will be an advocate for all housing opportunities.

"Slowly and steadily, we are building strength for collaborating and coordinating and making the best impact possible for our efforts," Schwartz said.