WSR met him there to hear his story of becoming and being one of New York City’s “unsheltered” or “street” homeless, and working his way out of it, with the help of Goddard Riverside, contracted by the City to conduct homeless outreach 24/7/365, covering 59 th Street to 110 th, from river to river. Two-and-a-half years later, Spisa was placed in permanent, supportive housing for formerly homeless people - a residence called Capitol Hall, on 87 th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, run by Goddard Riverside. I figured if anything happened, I got God and health care.” Paul the Apostle, across the street from Roosevelt Hospital. That’s why I chose next to the Church of St.
You don’t want to get knocked on your head while you’re sleeping. “You have to have certain life skills when you’re on the street,” Spisa, 56, explained. “Some remain in the same location during the day, while others have a ‘day location’ unique from that of their ‘night location’…The clients engaged were all in their “regular spots.”įor four months in late 2013, Robert Spisa’s regular spot was 59 th Street and Columbus Avenue. “Clients tend to stick to certain areas or ‘spots’ where they sleep at night,” wrote Keri Goldwyn, director of Goddard’s uptown outreach program, in an email. It was, instead, this man, who said a groundskeeper at Riverside Park looks out for him. Promising to return, Wilkinson and his partner, Paulique Medina, got back in their car and drove to their next client, hidden behind a mountain of dirt and a slab of concrete, under the West Side Highway.įrom a distance, it appeared to be a pile of debris… “I’m fine,” William said, from under the tarp. “Do you need anything? There’s a snowstorm coming. “Can you feel your hands and feet?” It was six a.m. “You okay, William?” Gavin Wilkinson, a senior housing outreach specialist, asked. A “Code Blue,” called the night before by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), in anticipation of extreme weather, was nonetheless in effect. The Goddard Riverside street-homeless outreach team knew his name - William - and where to find him to make sure he was okay the morning of the last Nor’easter, which hit the city later and lighter than predicted, earlier this month. Lying under a blue construction tarp, totally hidden from sight, on an Upper West Side sidewalk we’d rather not identify, a man fought to maintain his dignity. WSR went with a street-outreach team the morning of a prior storm to observe their work. Out before dawn to check on clients across Upper West and East Sides.īefore winter storms like the one that hit the city on Wednesday, those charged with the health and safety of its most vulnerable citizens - the unsheltered homeless - redouble their efforts to transition people indoors.
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