It’s common on the Vineyard to hear of someone couch surfing for a few weeks or struggling through a long transition between rentals, but the exact number of people without homes on the Vineyard remains elusive.
Last Saturday at the Vineyard Haven library, Alan Burt talked about working with the homeless population of Cape Cod for the past 20 years. On Dec. 13, he will spend the night sleeping outdoors with other advocates, in solidarity with the homeless, something he’s done for many years.
Last year, the homeless count in Dukes County found 119 homeless people, the highest in recent memory. But this year the annual measurement of the homeless population on a single night in January came and went with no count recorded.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to enjoy winter at arm’s length. As reported in the last edition of the Gazette, there are approximately one hundred and sixty homeless people on the Vineyard.
They are the Island's most vulnerable but invisible population. And with an inadequate safety net for the homeless, members of the clergy and county administration are calling for an Islandwide response.
The good news for the Vineyard economy is that in the first three months of this year banks loaned some $240 million for new mortgages, well above the numbers for the previous two recession years.
Even better, said Chris Wells, president and chief executive officer of the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, most of that was for new purchases rather than refinancing of existing loans, the biggest part of the mortgage business during the downturn.