Cross Sound Donates $4,000 to Maureen's Haven

Thanks to a generous donation from , Caren Heacock and other volunteers will be able to help homeless people to spend a night at the on Route 25 when the weather turns cold.

Heacock, pastoral assistant at the church, received a check for $2,000 to help fund local homeless program from representative Stan Mickus Wednesday morning during a small ceremony in the church basement. 

"It's for a good cause," Mickus said.

Cross Sound raised a total of $4,000 for the project during their annual fireworks cruise, which took place the second week in July. The company also donated $2,000 to the , Maureen's Haven's parent non-profit organization.

Mattituck Presbyterian Church is one of 16 host churches on the East End participating in the program founded nine years ago by a Dominican Sister. Volunteers aided by professional screeners check overnight visitors for drugs and weapons before transporting them to local churches where they can take a shower, get a hot meal and sleep indoors on air mattresses. Church basements are converted to makeshift dormitories.

The overnight guests are given breakfast and a brown bag lunch before they depart. Mattituck Presbyterian is open for overnight homeless visitors on Thursdays. Other participating churches each provide a night's shelter on other days of the week from the program's start on Nov. 1 until the end of April.

According to Heacock, the area's homeless are left to fend for themselves most of the year, often seeking shelter as squatters in vacant buildings.

"We had a pregnant woman who was sleeping in the old John Deere building on Route 58 in Riverhead." Heacock said. "There are more than 100 homeless people in each of the five East End towns."

Last year, a record 78 guests spent one night at Mattituck Presbyterian. The average is about 50 overnight guests once the weather turns cold. The church also participates in a food pantry and is currently providing bi-monthly food deliveries to 35 households around town.

Requests for assistance have increased in the last few years as the economy has floundered and unemployment has risen, Heacock said. She said she spends most of her days fielding calls for assistance and recently attended a four-day seminar in Hauppague sponsored by the Suffolk County Department of Social Services.

"They told us what was available and how to help people qualify for these programs," Heacock said.

Both Heacock and Elaine Villano of the Peconic Community Council stressed the need for increased community participation and donations.

"We are seeing a ripple effect," Villano said. "As the economy gets worse our donations disappear. Cutbacks affect everyone."

Aero Bed, a major manufacturer of inflatable air mattresses, is not able to donate their product anymore according to Villano. Food pantries are also feeling the pinch.

"The deli's used to donate surplus food, now that business is bad, they buy less and have less leftovers," Heacock said.

This year Thanksgiving Dinner will be served again to those spending the night in church on that Thursday evening.

"It's a lot of fun to come down and volunteer to cook and serve dinner," Villano said.

 Heacock said she is looking forward to volunteering at Maureen's Haven again this year.

"We are glad we can help out," she said. "People think this is an affluent area, and they are always surprised when we tell them about homeless people."