MANCHESTER, NH – The Queen City’s multi-agency homeless outreach teams were back to work Thursday following a six-day cessation of field outreach at camps across the city while police searched for murder suspect Timothy Johnson.
After the Saturday shooting death of Jean Lascelle, 67, outside the former Chestnut Street police station that’s been converted into a homeless shelter, police advised the outreach team to hold off on approaching any camps, out of an abundance of caution.
Johnson was found in Framingham, Mass., and arrested by authorities Wednesday, allowing for outreach teams to revisit camps once again.
Matt Bouchie, the homeless outreach coordinator for the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, said a group of seven outreach workers from the mental health center broke up into teams and made contact with eight different camps in the city throughout the day, starting at about 8 a.m.
“Since we haven’t been out at all… we had people that we needed to catch up with today,” Bouchie said.
He said luckily no-one they encountered needed any critical response. They focused on continuing their case management work with certain individuals. Despite feeling anxious to get back out there, Bouchie said it felt like they were able to pick up where they left off.
“It was people that we’ve been working with who actively want to work with us on … housing applications, benefit applications, things like that,” Bouchie said.
Another outreach team, consisting of two firefighters from the Manchester Fire Department, a case manager from Families in Transition-New Horizons, and Kathleen Covey, a homeless outreach clinician from the mental health center, set out around noon and hit 14 camps throughout the afternoon, Covey said.
“It was checking and touching base to make sure that individuals were doing OK, that they were coping OK with the recent loss,” Covey said.
Covey praised the collaboration with the other organizations, and said it’s given them a better understanding of how they each work, and how they can work better together to help those in need.
After the city dismantled a homeless camp on Canal Street under the Amoskeag Bridge on Feb. 6, Covey said many individuals who were staying there relocated to another camp known as Firestone, located behind the car shop of the same name, south of the Market Basket on Elm Street. Others from the Canal Street camp are now couch surfing at the homes of friends, she said.
Covey said the eviction likely had an impact on their wellbeing.
“I think in any situation when you have to be removed from any location that you feel comfortable and safe in and have to go somewhere where you’re not, it could negatively impact their wellbeing and mental health,” Covey said.
The city made the decision to dismantle the Canal Street camp after a fire involving propane tanks destroyed a tent in that camp on the night of Feb. 3.
While outreach teams have been unable to meet people in the camps for the past week, they’ve continued to stay in contact with those individuals who they’re able to reach by phone and who have sought services at local FIT-New Horizons shelters, FIT spokesman Kyle Chumas said.
“The team’s grateful that they can get back out there … and continue their collaboration with other partners in outreach,” Chumas said.
Over the same period of time field outreach was put on hold, Chumas said the shelters saw an increase in their bed usage, possibly due to cold weather. He said they still have beds available to anyone who needs them.
FIT President and CEO Maria Devlin said in a statement Thursday they acknowledge the apprehension of the murder suspect with “great relief” and thanked the Manchester Police Department for their tireless efforts in search of him.
“I know I am speaking on behalf of many of our participants and staff when I say that the conclusion of the search comes with a sense of peace and reassurance. We can begin to heal. We can begin to move forward,” Devlin said. “We will continue all of the vital and necessary work we do in the community unfettered but never forget this tragic event. Our Outreach teams will return to their normal activities in conjunction with our incredible partners. They have shown us yet again how much we can count on them in times of crisis.”
Bouchie said there were still a few people they weren’t able to locate Thursday, but they’ll try again on Friday.
