YES, VERY SURPRISED AT ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT ANY CITY FACES IS PROVIDING ENOUGH SERVICES FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WITHIN THE LAST YEAR, A NEW SHELTER OPENED ITS DOORS DOWNTOWN, OFFERING FOOD HOUSING, HEALTH CARE AND COUNSELING. AND THAT’S JUST ONE OF THE EFFORTS UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW IN PITTSBURGH. REPORTER PAUL VAN OSDOL LOOKS AT THE CURRENT STATE OF SERVICES FOR PEOPLE IN NEED AND HOW THE CITY SHELTERS ARE COPING WITH THE SURGE OF THE HOMELESS POPULATION. IN SECOND AVENUE. COMMONS BUZZ IS WITH ACTIVITY AS IT HAS SINCE OPENING LAST NOVEMBER. WE OPENED IN THAT SAME DAY. WE ACTUALLY FILLED MOST OF OUR SPACES. THE COMMONS WAS TOUTED AS AN ANSWER TO PITTSBURGH’S GROWING HOMELESS PROBLEM, BUT THE NUMBER OF HOMELESS WHO DESCENDED ON THE SHELTER FROM DAY ONE CAME AS A SHOCK TO PITTSBURGH MERCY, WHICH RUNS IT. WHEN YOU ADD THIS MANY PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER TOGETHER, YOU DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO EXPECT. TONY BELTRAN IS CEO OF PITTSBURGH MERCY. I THINK IF YOU GET THAT MANY PEOPLE ALL AT ONCE IN A NEW SPACE, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE SOME SOME KIND OF GLITCHES. 911 RECORDS SHOW HUNDREDS OF POLICE, FIRE AND EMS CALLS TO THE SHELTER IN ITS FIRST THREE MONTHS INCLUDE REPORTS OF ASSAULTS, THEFTS, FIGHTS, WEAPONS AND OVERDOSES. BELTRAN AND ALLEGHENY COUNTY’S HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR SAY THE SHELTER HAS MOVED PAST ITS EARLY STRUGGLES IN ITS FIRST SIX MONTHS. THE COMMONS PROVIDED SHELTER FOR 800 PEOPLE, HELPED. 450 GET BENEFITS AND TREATED 213 PEOPLE FOR MEDICAL CONCERNS. ON THIS ONE. CHRISTOPHER TWEED IS A DRYWALL FINISHER WHO HELPED BUILD SECOND AVENUE COMMONS. I ENDED UP LIVING HERE. IMAGINE THAT. HE ENDED UP AT THE COMMONS AFTER BEING FORCED TO LEAVE HIS HOUSE DUE TO A PROTECTION FROM ABUSE ORDER. THEY HELP YOU WITH THE HOUSING AND WHATNOT AND DIFFERENT THINGS. JOBS AND IN HEALTH CARE, I THINK IT’S AMAZING. ELIZABETH HUNTS AND HER FIANCÉ, KEVIN JACKSON, HAD BEEN LIVING AT SECOND AVENUE FOR A MONTH WHEN CHRONICLE SPOKE WITH THEM, THEY GOT US A BED AND THEN GOT US TO SEE A DOCTOR. I HAD NO INSURANCE AND I NEEDED GLASSES FOR PROBABLY LIKE FIVE YEARS. I MY GLASSES WERE BROKEN AND HAVE PERKINS. WITHIN A WEEK I HAD NEW GLASSES AS THEY HAVE WITNESSED A FEW FIGHTS, BUT BOTH SAY THEY FEEL SAFE AT THE COMMONS. WE BOTH COME FROM A LIFE OF DRUGS, YOU KNOW, BUT HAVING A CLEAR HEAD NOW IS. YEAH, VERY, VERY MUCH WORTH IT. DO THEY HELP YOU OUT WITH THAT HERE, TOO? ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. BUT THEY’VE GOT ALL KINDS OF COUNSELORS AND PROGRAMS AND THEY HAVE A LOT OF OFF SITE COUNSELING THAT COMES IN AND OFFERS PROGRAMS. EXPERTS SAY SERVICES LIKE THAT ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS HAVING A WARM BED AND A MEAL IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY, SURVEY FOUND 75% OF HOMELESS PEOPLE HAD RECEIVED MENTAL HEALTH OR SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT IN THE PAST YEAR. HOW YOUNG WERE YOU WHEN YOU WERE FORCED TO LIVE ON THE STREETS? I WAS AT 14. KARA DOBBINS STRUGGLED WITH ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES FOR YEARS. THEN SHE FOUND LIGHT OF LIFE RESCUE MISSION, WHICH OFFERS A SHELTER AS WELL AS COUNSELING AND OTHER PROGRAMS FOR MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN. CARE FOR. SPENT TWO YEARS LIVING AT THE MISSION’S SISTERS HOUSE, GETTING TREATMENT AND MAKING CONNECTIONS. IF YOU HADN’T HAD THAT EXPERIENCE WHERE WOULD YOU HAVE ENDED UP? I DON’T KNOW. I PROBABLY WOULDN’T BE HERE. GOD ONLY KNOWS WHERE I WOULD BE. MAYBE ON THE STREETS. YEAH, BECAUSE A LOT OF LIFE. LITERALLY CHANGED MY LIFE. LIGHT OF LIFE. DIRECTOR GENERAL GILLIAM SAYS PROVIDING SERVICES IS KEY TO REDUCING HOMELESSNESS. IF A PERSON HAS A BAD TOOTH AND IT’S ACHING, THEY’RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO TO APPLY THEIR FOCUS INTO GETTING OUT OF HOMELESSNESS. SO WE WANT TO CONNECT THEM WITH A DENTIST. UNLIKE SECOND AVENUE COMMONS, LIGHT OF LIFE IS CHRISTIAN FOCUSED, BUT GILLIAM SAYS THEY DON’T FORCE RELIGION ON THEIR CLIENTS. PEOPLE COME IN, THEY DON’T HAVE SOME, DON’T HAVE FAITH, SOME DO. SOME MIGHT PRACTICE A DIFFERENT FAITH. IT DOESN’T MATTER TO US. WE WANT TO GET YOU OFF THE STREET TO GET PEOPLE OFF THE STREETS. LIGHT OF LIFE SENDS TEAMS INTO THE STREETS, OFFERING HELP TO THOSE IN HOMELESS CAMPS. PEOPLE WERE NOT COMING TO US. WE NEEDED TO GO TO THEM. THE PEOPLE THEY FIND ARE NOT ALWAYS WHO YOU THINK THEY MIGHT BE. EXPERTS SAY THE HOMELESS IN PITTSBURGH INCLUDE WOMEN AND CHILDREN, COLLEGE STUDENTS, PEOPLE WITH ADVANCED DEGREES. WE HAVE PEOPLE IN OUR PROGRAM THAT HAVE PHDS OR MASTER’S DEGREES. THEY’VE OWNED BUSINESSES BEFORE, BUT THEY’VE HAD A SERIES OF LIFE EVENTS THAT HAVE ENDED THEM BEING HERE. SOME ALSO END UP AT THE SMITHFIELD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST DOWNTOWN. THE SMITHFIELD SHELTER TYPICALLY CLOSES IN MARCH, BUT BECAUSE OF DEMAND, ALLEGHENY COUNTY IS KEEPING IT OPEN THROUGH JUNE 20TH AFTER IT CLOSES, THE COUNTY WILL USE A VAN TO TRANSPORT HOMELESS PEOPLE DOWNTOWN TO LIGHT OF LIFE. SECOND AVENUE COMMONS AND OTHER SHELTERS. BUT EXPERTS SAY FINDING SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS IS LIKE A GAME OF WHACK A MOLE. AARON DALTON IS ALLEGHENY COUNTY’S HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR. YOU’LL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH SHELTER, NEVER, EVER. IF YOU AREN’T MOVING PEOPLE THROUGH THE SYSTEM. IF PEOPLE AREN’T EXITING TO HOUSING, IS THERE ENOUGH AFFORDABLE HOUSING NOW TO ACCOMMODATE THEM? NO. I MEAN, I THINK THAT IS A REAL CHALLENGE. WE’RE STRUGGLING WITH ENOUGH AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR SURE. IT’S ALSO A STRUGGLE FOR ELIZABETH AND KEVIN AT SECOND AVENUE COMMONS. MY GOAL IS TO BY THE END OF THE SUMMER TO BE IN MY OWN PLACE. SO MY KIDS CAN COME HOME. IT CERTAINLY IS NOT A DESTINATION. THIS IS ONLY TEMPORARY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS DEFINITELY A