14° F – Mary’s ongoing battle for shelter… [HN VIDEO]
First of all, “thank you” to all HN Readers who have kept Mary and other homeless individuals in their thoughts and prayers. And also, “thank you” to Megan with Elderly Protective Services for reaching out to help!
Today’s HN Video entitled, “14° F – Mary’s ongoing battle for shelter…” was shot entirely on a HN body camera. Mary, who says she’s 81-years-old, does not mind HN documenting parts of our conversations as it pertains to her ongoing dire situation.
The temperature was 14° F when HN arrived to speak with Mary about her ongoing battle for shelter. (As the evening wore on, the temperature dipped to 10° F, according to the digital thermometer inside my vehicle.) It was cold. Many things were freezing. There was also those ongoing bad memories of a long, unacceptable Hyannis history of forgotten homeless individuals freezing to death… seemingly on a yearly basis. HN’s main goal was to make sure Mary wasn’t one of them.
Several days ago I was pleased to report Mary had been placed in a Hyannis hotel room, thanks to an overflow program by the Saint Joseph’s shelter on Winter Street. If things worked out, Mary would have had safe, warm shelter until March. In short, things did not work out and Mary found herself back outside, suffering on a bench in the entryway of a Hyannis restaurant.
The overflow program turned out not to be the right fit for Mary’s unique needs. And by all accounts, it was mentioned Mary may have been banned from the Hyannis hotel because of an alleged conflict or disagreement of some sort, involving one of the program’s rules – but alas, that’s all neither here nor there, and the long and short of it was that Mary had once again found herself back at “square one,” on the street and without adequate shelter on one of the coldest nights of the year. Again, everyone’s main concern for Mary now suddenly shifted back toward basic shelter from the bitter cold.
Due to plunging temps, some advocates believed it was now, again, a dire life or death survival situation for Mary.
HN stopped by to visit Mary to see what, if anything, could be done. The following HN body cam footage highlights what happened next…
[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]
P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by Janis Joplin… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT!]
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