Volunteers in Paterson face new obstacles counting homeless people, including ICE raids

PATERSON — A minivan carrying volunteers to count the number of homeless people in the city came to a stop on Broadway on Wednesday when the driver spied a woman sleeping on church steps using her red winter coat as a blanket.

Chris Breit, a longtime social service advocate in Paterson, asked the woman if she was willing to participate in the survey. But the woman refused. Breit then asked if she needed any help. In response, the woman rolled down her sock to reveal a bleeding, festering wound.

“I fall a lot,” she said, explaining her injury. “The scabs won’t heal.”

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But the woman declined medical treatment, and after becoming agitated, she quickly gathered her few belongings and left. “The poor woman is in so much distress,” Breit said. “That’s going to stay with me.”

The encounter reflected the difficulties in gathering meaningful data on homelessness. The woman on the church steps won’t be one of those counted in Paterson’s 2025 total.

Homeless count volunteers mistaken for ICE officials

Last year, the results of the one-day count found that Paterson’s unhoused population had increased by 66% over 2023, growing from 248 to 411. But homeless advocates say this year’s number may go down — not because there are fewer unhoused people in Paterson, but due to other factors.

Some volunteer counters on Wednesday met people who feared that those doing the homeless survey were immigration enforcement officials looking to carry out the deportation crackdown imposed under President Donald Trump.

Also, last year’s homeless count was bolstered by a new strategy: sending counters to the city-run warming center. But this year, the city moved its warming center to a new location, on the outskirts of Paterson, and it has been frequented by far fewer homeless people even on the coldest days.

Last January, 90 people filled out homeless surveys at Paterson’s previous warming center, said Richard Williams, executive director at St. Paul’s Community Development Corporation, one of the nonprofits working on the count. At the new warming center, the counters found just 12 people taking shelter, a reduction that may also have stemmed from the warmer temperatures Wednesday.

“There are some barriers that may impact how effectively we do this, but we’re still going to give this our best effort,” Williams said of the homeless count. “In years prior, it was easier to locate individuals in hot spots.”

The count in Paterson is part of a statewide annual initiative sponsored by Monarch Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. Last year, the New Jersey homeless count increased by 23%.

Counting people at free lunch sites, food pantries

One strategy Williams relies on in Paterson is to count individuals at places where they willingly convene: free lunch sites and food pantries.

At noon, the afternoon shift of homeless count volunteers arrived at Eva’s Village community kitchen, where lunch was being served. The cafeteria serves about 30 pounds of food on a busy day.

In addition to the promise of a warm meal, Eva’s draws a crowd for its other giveaways, such as free coats. On Wednesday, there also were various social program representatives at the lunchroom with information on their programs.

“It’s important to bring as many resources as possible,” said Antoinette Blake, director of housing and outreach. “Even though we want to count them, we want to make sure that the one time we have everyone indoors we can meet as many needs as possible.”

Sherry Herring, 60, a four-month shelter resident, was among those who filled out a count survey at Eva’s. Four months ago, Herring said, she’d finally had enough of the cold nights and “dope-sick” mornings that came with using drugs on the streets, so she checked into Eva’s Village. Next month, Herring will move into a new apartment that the organization arranged for her.

“I was missing something in my life,” Herring said about the years she was on drugs. “I had to get sober.”

Herring’s friend at the shelter, Yolanda Claudio, 54, said she has never touched drugs in her life. She ended up in a shelter after losing a Section 8 housing voucher.

Claudio noted a recent attempt by Paterson officials to impose fines and jail time on people who camp out on public streets. She said the politicians who wish to criminalize homelessness don’t understand the reasons that push people into the circumstances.

“They don’t know the story behind homelessness,” Claudio said. “It’s a different thing for different people.”

Hearing these stories of hardship can sometimes take a toll on the volunteers conducting surveys. Sue Brunetti, who has participated in the Point-in-Time count for the past five years, said that sometimes the people she surveyed would plead with her for help.

“I’m a little teary-eyed,” Brunetti said. “I don’t have the resources, so I don’t know what to do or say.”

Afraid to visit food pantry because of deportation raids

Another complication that volunteers faced that day was the widespread fear as a result of the recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Newark and Paterson.

Ruth Gerardino, the shift’s only Spanish-speaking volunteer, said a few people refused to speak to her. “One guy was taking the survey and someone else told him, ‘Don’t take that survey, because this is for ICE to come and get you.’”

Leslie Pujols, community health worker for the CUMAC food pantry, which set up an information table inside Eva’s Village to connect local residents to such benefits as SNAP, also noticed the fear of ICE. “People right now are afraid to stand on our line,” Pujols said. “We have clients that are afraid to come to the food pantry because they’re going to be deported.”

After two hours on Wednesday afternoon, the crowd inside the community kitchen at Eva’s thinned. So the volunteers packed into a minivan and began traveling to other “hot spots,” including alleyways and abandoned buildings where the homeless are known to seek shelter.

While driving, the volunteers shared their observations of the day. They said they were surprised to learn that many who eat at the community kitchen have homes and jobs but still struggle to make ends meet. Those people weren’t eligible to participate in the survey, but it gave the volunteers perspective on what it means to be the “working poor.”

“They’re working. They’re doing everything they need to do,” said Arti Kakkar, the county’s director of human services, who was at Eva’s Village earlier that day.

While tent encampments in downtown Paterson have gotten much attention, many unhoused people find shelter in less conspicuous places that can also be dangerous. That’s how Breit came upon the woman sleeping on the church steps. She was among several who refused to participate in the survey.

When the van of volunteers returned to St. Paul’s Church to turn in the surveys, Christine Wolfe, the Point-in-Time volunteer coordinator, said the final shift of volunteers, accompanied by plainclothes police officers, would search at night along the railroad tracks, where some homeless people are known to go.

Wolfe, whose eyes were slightly bloodshot after many hours of work, had been dispatching teams of volunteers to conduct counts since the previous evening.

“It’s only one day out of the year, so it’s not too bad,” Wolfe said.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ volunteers face new obstacles counting homeless people