HUDSON — The heavily bundled woman paced at her usual spot on the corner of one of the city’s busiest streets, holding a handmade sign that read “Homeless please help.”
Even as the temperature has plunged, she has remained a familiar presence in a city with few other panhandlers or visibly homeless people. But city and county officials said she has rebuffed offers of assistance, hampering their ability to help her move off Hudson’s streets.
The Times Union is identifying the woman only as Tessia. With homelessness spiking across the Hudson Valley, forcing agencies to use motels to lodge residents for months or years at a time, Tessia’s case offers a glimpse into the challenge of aiding people in the midst of mental health crises playing out on city streets…