Former homeless pair call drugs major obstacle in fight against homelessness

Grace Lloyd and her friend, Dennis Fournier, said if homeless people could end their addictions, the problem would go away. (Rochester Voice photos)

ROCHESTER - A pair of formerly homeless people now living in an apartment in Rochester said during a homeless rally at City Hall on Friday the single overriding obstacle to the plight of the homeless is drug abuse.

Grace Lloyd, who now lives at Northgate Apartments, spent most of a recent winter sleeping under the roof of the Lilac Mall. She said she used sheets, blankets, cardboard boxes and whatever else she could find to stay warm.

Lloyd and her friend, Dennis Fournier, who has also spent time in the ranks of the homeless, were among about a dozen who came out to a well-publicized homeless rally that ran from 3-5 p.m. on City Hall's front lawn.

Organizer Don Mccullough of Tri-City Co-op, which advocates for the homeless, said he'd hoped for some of Rochester's homeless to show up, but none did.

About a dozen showed up for a homeless rally at City Hall on Friday afternoon.

Lloyd and Fournier said they'd heard through the grapevine that none would show up because they feared being arrested on outstanding warrants, a rumor that had also circulated to Rochester Police Chief Paul Toussaint, who said police had planned no arrests during the rally.

"This is great," Toussaint said as he looked out at the dozen or so protesters demonstrating peacefully. "I will always support the public's right to protest peacefully."

It was Toussaint who first reached out to Mccullough after his initial request for a permit to demonstrate at City Hall was denied by the city

That request had included a band and sound system.

"You have to remember there are a lot of people who live, have apartments, right around here," Toussaint said.

Sam Renshaw of the Southern New Hampshire Democratic Socialists of America, foreground, left, chats with Doug Flierl of Vets to Vets as they hold placards supporting the homeless during a rally in front of City Hall on on Friday,

After Mccullough agreed to drop the band and sound system in deference to a more quiet protest, his permit was approved.

Fournier and Lloyd said they escaped the scourge of homelessness with one single action: beating their addictions.

Lloyd said she knew of at least six individuals who were homeless in Rochester because they blew their disability checks on drugs.

"I know one who gets $1,600 a month but he blows it on 8-balls (a term for an amount of various drugs, including crack, heroin and cocaine)," she said. "The answer to the homeless problem is already there if they'd stop using drugs. We're here to fight addiction, not homelessness."

Fournier, who said he'd come down to live with Lloyd for a while because she had been ill, agreed.

He said he'd been living in Waterville, Maine, where he had his own Section 8 apartment, which he paid $325 a month for.

Lloyd said the Rochester welfare office helped her with her first month's rent at Northgate and she thought she'd be able to maintain her residency using her disability check.

As part of the rally Mccullough was expected to erect a tent to protest the city's tenting ban passed earlier this year.

In an agreement with police, Mccullough would be permitted to stake his tent then be issued a summons to appear in Rochester District Court where he would continue his protest against the ban.

Mccullough told The Rochester Voice that he had been in contact with the New Hampshire branch of the ACLU, which planned to represent him at any court hearings.

"The media being here makes it look bigger than it really is, which is good," he said. "And I'll get my summons."