By Win Damon |
File photograph. (Image licensed by Ingram Image.)
Despite changing state rules throughout the pandemic, Haverhill’s Community Action has been able to continue serving homeless and near-homeless residents with its Drop-In Center inside Haverhill’s Universalist Unitarian Church.
Longtime Drop-in Center Director Pat Dennehy says the early days of the pandemic created great difficulties because of the then-state limitation of serving just 10 individuals at a time.
“Usually we served about 75 people a day and we had to cut down to 10 which was difficult. The decision was basically made that I would only take in people who were actually outside, because if you’re out all night, you have to have a safe place to go. I’ve been open throughout the pandemic. They bumped us up to 25, brought us back down to 10. We had to change everything the way that we served food. Just everything had to change, but we stuck through it, and we’ve been open every day throughout