Concord Monitor Series on Homelessness

Seeking shelter: A cold reality, By Jeremy Blackman and Megan Doyle, December 22, 2014, Concord Monitor: “Robert Glodgett staggered into First Congregational Church last night, tired, hungry, cold – a drifter with nowhere else to go. He slipped a ski cap off his head and dropped onto a couch, alcohol on his breath. A woman walked over. ‘Red!’ she said, opening her arms. This was a homecoming of sorts. Every December for the past five years, Glodgett, 52, has arrived at the Concord church, which doubles as an emergency shelter through March. Night after night, he spends eight warm hours on a makeshift bed, recharging before another grinding winter day. This season, however, will be his last in this shelter. After more than a decade of housing the city’s homeless during the coldest months, First Congregational Church and its sister parish, South Congregational Church, have opted to shutter their operations at the end of this winter. Their decision, finalized this fall, was the result of a growing concern that the city was becoming too dependent on the shelters, which were temporary from the start…”