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Updated: November 17, 2009, 1:01 pm	Share    Print    Email

On a rainy November night the crew at St. Mary's Episcopal Church reach out to the homeless. From left to right: overnighter Al Sparrow, screener Allison Maffei, director Denis Yuen, assistant director Karen Fellows, St. Mary's co-coordinator Diane Sherwood, husband Dom Sherwood and co-coordinator Dierdre Walker. Photos by Aaron Boyd

Riverhead - The wind was whipping on a rainy, yet warm November night at the Riverhead train station, where some 20 homeless individuals stood in an orderly line waiting for a screener to process them before getting into either the small bus or large van waiting to take them to Hampton Bays. On such a night, the Maureen's Haven program is the only thing that will keep many of them dry.

On stormy days, it is not unusual to get a lower turnout, as many homeless who find a place to avoid the rain will stay there through the night.

Maureen's Haven, the vision of Dominican Sister Maureen Michael, who passed away in 1997 before her dream of establishing a homeless outreach program on the East End was realized, organizes 25 churches on the North and South Forks that provide overnight lodging and meals to the needy through the cold winter months. "We're going into our eighth winter," program director Denis Yuen explained, which has been extended to cover the freezing temperatures from November to April. Maureen's Haven is a branch of the Peconic Community Council (PCC), a community organization that helps down-and-out East Enders find housing and work and helps them gain access to medical assistance and community services offered through the county.

There are an estimated 500 homeless in eastern Suffolk, according to the county, however those numbers are hard to prove as not all homelessness is out in the open. "Some bunk with friends, some are living in their cars and some won't come out of the woods," Yuen said, added to the numbers who are transient, like Mr. Stevens.

A wiry man in mid-life, Mr. Stevens came to the Hamptons from Georgia to take care of some necessary business (He was cryptic, but it was clear that the business was deeply personal). "Things are falling into place slowly," he said, but for now, "Without them [Maureen's Haven] right now, I'd be out in the weather." Mr. Stevens had a full-time job down in Georgia, making enough to support himself and rent out a two-room apartment, which he claims will still be waiting for him when he returns. On nights like these, without the Maureen's Haven program, "I'd try to run inside somewhere, nothing illegal," he assured, "I don't like to intrude on people. I just do what I gotta do for me."

The program regularly assists 30 to 40 individuals a night, with a high of 63 on one particularly cold night last year, according to Yuen. On a rainy evening like tonight, 33 people show up hoping for a warm meal and a dry bed. "Usually around this time of year we have half that," Assistant Director Karen Fellows said, "And it's not the weather, because the weather's been warm, it's the economy."

Maureen's Haven program Director Denis Yuen and Assistant Director Karen Fellows at the Peconic Community Council (PCC) headquarters in Riverhead.

The PCC is seeing a higher percentage of working homeless this year according to Fellows, with nearly 40 percent of those seeking assistance "working or willing and able to work." The percentage of women participating in the program dropped slightly last year, "but they were with us all winter," Fellows explained, and overall the demographics are changing.

"Typically we have a low Hispanic population," Yuen said, estimating the breakdown at 45 percent Caucasian, 30 percent Black and 25 percent Hispanic, historically, though "last year, January/February came and we started seeing more," as the local construction industry faltered. "If they can work a day they can pay their friend for the night," he explained, pegging a 15 to 20 percent increase in the Hispanic population using the service to economic factors, "Most of the Hispanic participants have been out of work four to five months."

Mr. Stevens (left) and Lorenzo (right) watch a movie after dinner, before heading to bed.

That is true for Lorenzo, who came to the Hamptons one year ago from Guatemala, where his family still resides. Lorenzo speaks little-to-no English, but using a phrase book he is able to explain that his son is seriously ill and he makes motions miming the growth of a brain tumor. He has been working as a landscaper for the last year, sending his money home and staying with friends in Riverhead and Hampton Bays, however this will be his first winter living in the north and Maureen's Haven will likely be his lifeline.

Fellows stands off to the side watching the men as they walk from the screeners to the bus (the women have already been searched and loaded into the van), watching for signs of drunkenness or odd behavior that may signal a potential problem. She keeps a watchful eye on everyone throughout the evening, though Yuen is presented as the stern father figure to Fellows' kindly mother in a good-cop, bad-cop style routine.

The bus and van load up at the Riverhead train station and make their way to Saint Mary's Episcopal Church on Ponquogue Avenue in Hampton Bays, the designated center for the evening. Of the 25 churches that participate in the Maureen's Haven program, 14 act as host churches, offering their houses of worship as shelter, while the remaining congregations take turns making dinner and providing breakfast and a bagged lunch for the next day. From the beginning of November until the end of April, the program has scheduled at least one church for every night of the week.

On this evening, the community room of Saint Mary's is adorned with seating for 50 at two picnic-style dinner tables and air mattresses line the perimeter and fill the middle of the room. As the 33 homeless line up to sign in before entering the church, with the smell of turkey and gravy ahead and blustering rain behind, most are downcast and detached. Fifteen minutes later, warm, dry and halfway through the first course, spirits are high and people are ready to share their stories.

After dinner some go straight to bed while others attend to their belongings and others sit comfortably in the warmth and watch a movie.

"I've gained four pounds in five days," a man who goes by the name Douggs said appreciatively as he ate, "It's too much, it's ridiculous, they keep pushing their love on us," he said with a smile. "I eat better than I ate at home," a man named Roger concurred. Along with food and shelter for the night, the PCC is helping Douggs to find an apartment for him and his girlfriend and get his social security card, the first step in getting a job.

Jennifer holding up her chit, proof that she waited for county housing that day only to be denied.

A young guy named Bill and his wife are seated across the table. He says his parents are drug addicts and he himself was busted for selling illegal substances, spending two years locked up. At 23, Bill will rent an apartment if he can find work in the summer, otherwise he and his wife spend their nights in his tent and last year they spent the winter with Maureen's Haven. "Homeless people don't have as many options as other people," he says, wishing the county would provide "more places to get a job and an I.D."

His friend Jason, who has been on the streets since he was 18, doesn't even ask for that much, "Just somewhere people on the streets can just sit down without getting bothered."

Michael, a well-educated and intelligent man suffering from a number of health conditions, has been out in the streets for a month since the group home he was living in was sold to a new owner and closed. As the nights get colder, he uses Maureen's Haven "only for emergencies," he said, "It fills the void left because the government has not had safe housing - so Mr. Levy, please do something," he pled. While housing is obviously the number one priority for Michael, he understands that there are other important issues being dealt with on the county level. "Housing is just another issue within that social worker milieu of what they have to do," he reasons, "It is what it is."

Patricia, a disabled woman who has been homeless "off and on" for eight years, can't get the help she needs from the county. "You have to have your head cut off and your arms and legs cut off or they think you can work," she said, "You really have to prove to them that you really need it." Maureen's Haven and the PCC, on the other hand, will help anyone who even appears to need it. "They take you in when you have no place to go," Patricia says, "There's been days I haven't eaten and it was only by the grace of God and these people helping me that I got by."

A young woman named Jennifer, who has been in and out of the system through her life and living on the streets since March, has had a little more luck with the county, though not this evening. Working with the Suffolk Independent Living Organization (SILO), she said, "They helped me establish some foundation," however getting housing on a nightly basis can be a challenge. "I came here because I went to social services, got a ticket, but then they said I never signed up," she said, so she was denied housing for the evening. Jennifer wasn't too broken up about having to use the Maureen's Haven program, though. "I get taken care of better here," she said, "When you go to those shelters there's no comparison to these churches, you're lucky if you can get fed enough, warm clothing or a shower," adding that, "When you go to those places you have to be alert. Here, I feel like my stuff is safe, I'm safe, there's nothing I have to worry about."

"I learned my lesson," said Bill, "Now that I want to do right, everything is going wrong for me. Maureen's Haven is the best thing that happened around here, but it's not enough, it's only in the winter."

Young and without a home. From left to right: Bill, Jason and Jennifer.