The city of Fall River is reporting on its support for the homeless during the past winter.
The city council’s committee on health and environmental affairs met with city outreach officials last night to get an update on the city’s efforts to assist the unhoused.
Michael Dion, director of the city’s community development agency, said from December through March, the city was never at full capacity for all its shelter beds across three facilities.
Obtaining an accurate count of those who are homeless and not in shelters, the city reported improvement over last year during what are called point-in-time counts conducted each winter.
Director of outreach services Nicole Fontaine said the city’s enhancement without encampment program, which provides support to individuals transitioning from homeless encampments to detox, step-down units, and sober living environments, saw a 90% success rate from 2025 to 2026.
Despite that success, the city has not made more meaningful progress.
City councilor Christopher Peckham praised the work being done locally, but said the homeless problem has become too large for the city to address alone.
