Assisting the homeless
Rafael Pagan Jr. is executive director of Pacific House in Stamford, which assists the homeless population of Fairfield County searching for a safe habitat.
One main challenge that Pagan faces in his work is getting public acknowledgment that the region has a homeless population.
Originally launched as a 67-bed men”™s shelter in Stamford four decades ago, the nonprofit took a more proactive than reactive approach to the issue in 2007.
Rather than concentrating on emergency shelter, Pagan and his group addressed providing deeply affordable housing for the homeless community.
Over the years Pacific House has placed a primary importance on developing housing specifically designed to assist the homeless.
For Pagan, the solution to homelessness is to ensure the people coming through Pacific House”™s care are only making a temporary stop on the route to a more secure environment, with the goal “to get them out within 60 days and place them in permanent housing.”
For more, visit https://www.pacifichouse.org/
