WHITINSVILLE – A coordinated effort involving the Northbridge Police Department, Blackstone Valley Emergency Shelter and Blackstone Valley Partnership for Public Health is helping support Cassie, a Whitinsville woman experiencing homelessness while working full time.
Sergeant Brian Patrinelli first connected with Cassie in 2024, when she was living out of her car and working at Shaw’s. After her car broke down, she began living in a wooded area near Route 122. Patrinelli has continued checking on her and connecting her with available resources.
Jenna Gouin, MBA/MSOL, of the Blackstone Valley Partnership for Public Health, regularly joins Patrinelli to check on Cassie and address immediate needs such as food, clothing, medication and healthcare. Gouin also helps remove practical barriers, including picking up food from the pantry or handling paperwork Cassie cannot easily access.
“I’m really trying to remove some of those barriers for them,” Gouin said.
Leslie Reichert, president of the Blackstone Valley Emergency Shelter, said the shelter has worked with Cassie for approximately six or seven years, helping with necessities including food, firewood and a battery-operated fan when she was living in her car. More recently, the shelter’s mobile medical unit has helped her address her medications and access healthcare.
The shelter also operates a police partnership program with eight local police departments, allowing officers to arrange temporary hotel stays for people experiencing homelessness while shelter staff work to stabilize them and connect them with a homelessness navigator.
Gouin, Patrinelli and Reichert also recently participated in a Northbridge Board of Selectmen meeting about homelessness, including discussion of Town Common regulations and the community resources available to people experiencing homelessness. That portion of the meeting begins at approximately the 14:55 mark, which you can listen to here.
