The Port Times Record - October 12, 2017

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The Port

Times record port jefferson • belle terre • port jefferson station • terryville

Vol. 30, No. 46

October 12, 2017

$1.00

What’s inside Port Jeff school district solidifies bond vote date A3 17 acres of green space to be preserved in Terryville A7 Inmates paired with shelter dogs in new program A13 SUV goes up in flames on Main Street in PJV A15

Nightmare on Main Street opens in Huntington Also: Photo of the Week, Health and Wellness expo comes to sound Beach, ‘A kooky spooky Halloween’ at theatre three

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Homelessness in Port Jefferson: A problem that won’t go away Photo by Alex Petroski

By Alex PetrOski alex@tbrnewspapers.com An Aug. 28 post by a user in a private Facebook group of about 1,300 Port Jefferson Village residents featured a photo of two men sleeping at the Port Jefferson Long Island Rail Road station. Amidst a longer message attached to the image was the phrase: “I’ve had it.” The post inspired comments from more than a dozen users who began a lengthy discussion about homeowners’ concerns over property values as a result of ac-

tivity related to homeless people in the area. Some responses included efforts to tackle the issue of homelessness after the main poster asked: “Does anyone know what is being done about this?” Elected officials, local leaders and data from nonprofit organizations serving the state, Long Island and Suffolk County seem to agree: Efforts exist to reduce the number of undomiciled residents, but the problem is not going away and more needs to be done. Homelessness has been a topic of conversation in Port Jeff for de-

cades, and Father Frank Pizzarelli, a Port Jeff resident and founder of the nonprofit Hope House Ministries, began addressing the issue in 1980. With 10 facilities, he helps serve groups and people in need. His first endeavor was The Community House in Port Jefferson. A 30-bed long-term facility, the home on Main Street is still in operation today for at-risk 16- to 21-year-old males in need of a place to live. Almost 28 years ago, Pizzarelli said he opened Pax Christi Hospitality Center on Oakland Avenue after a Vietnam veteran froze

to death in winter while living in what he described as a cardboard box village in Port Jefferson. At least seven people listed as undomiciled by the county police department were arrested on the morning of Oct. 4 for sleeping in tents in the woods behind the Comsewogue Public Library on Terryville Road, according to police. According to the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit organization established in 1985 that works with government agencies to secure funding and

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The Voice of the People

RE-ELECT

©155352

Valerie M. Cartright For Brookhaven Town Council - District 1 vcartright.com

Nov . 7th

Paid for by Friends of Valerie M. Cartright


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