One Jackson neighborhood organization is reaching out to law enforcement and social service agencies to learn the most effective ways to respond to individuals who are homeless, mentally ill or have other issues.
“We have people who are truly in need of shelter, food and medical help,” said Rebecca Garrison, executive director of the Fondren Renaissance Foundation and the Fondren Business Improvement District.
“But we also have a small number of chronically homeless people who have grown accustomed to their plight, and people who come into Fondren to panhandle who aren’t nearly as needy as they would have you believe. Some have alcohol or drug dependencies, and some are suffering from mental illness.”
Representatives of Stewpot Community Services, Hinds Behavioral Health Services, Fondren Security, Capitol Police, Jackson Police and the University of Mississippi Medical Center Police discussed homelessness with a 50-member audience during last month’s “Coffee with Our Cops” meeting sponsored by the Fondren Renaissance Foundation.
“An important point that was brought out during the meeting was the need for everyone to feel safe, which requires setting boundaries,” Garrison said. “And, that being homeless doesn’t give someone a pass on respecting the law and other people.”
A follow up meeting is scheduled on July 31 at 9 a.m. with the location tentatively set for Homewood Suites. Anyone who would like to be notified of the meetings should email Garrison at rebecca@fondren.org.
Months before the May meeting, Fondren Renaissance Foundation began conversations with Hinds Behavioral Health Services, Stewpot and several law enforcement agencies.
“We learned that resources are available,” Garrison said. “Food, shelter, job training and assistance, health services and even legal services. The challenge is
getting people to trust and take advantage of the resources.”
It’s not illegal to be homeless or mentally ill and law enforcement officers cannot force an individual to accept assistance, said Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey, who was not able to attend last month’s meeting but represented by Lt. Jeremy Gordon.
Homeless individuals tend to congregate in business areas such as Fondren and downtown Jackson because they have more success at panhandling and there are restaurants where they may get a free meal or can dumpster dive for something to eat, he said. “They benefit more from hanging out in a business area than a residential area,” he said.
Homeless individuals are less likely to go into residential areas, he said, because they look out of place and homeowners tend to call the police.
Luckey encourages anyone in Fondren who sees something that doesn’t seem right to call Capitol Police at 601-359-3125. Capitol Police patrols Fondren between North State Street and Old Canton Road up to Meadowbrook Road.
“If you see somebody who looks out of place walking through your neighborhood while you’re doing the dishes, call us and let us come talk to that person,” Luckey said. “If nobody calls us, we can’t do anything.”
It doesn’t violate someone’s constitutional rights for patrol officers to stop someone, have a conversation and ask, “Where are you going?” Luckey said. He said officers will often give a homeless individual a ride to wherever he or she may be going.
Capitol Police has shown it will enforce the law even if a suspect is homeless or mentally ill.
“When I took over Capitol Police, we were having a lot of break-ins in downtown Jackson,” he said. “The overwhelming majority of those suspects were in the homeless community. In the past, people have taken sympathy and pity and not enforced the law. That doesn’t help.”
Capt. Jacquelyn Thomas, who is over the Jackson Police Department’s Precinct 4, recommends anyone who sees a criminal act occurring call 911.
“If someone sees obvious abuse of a homeless person or sees someone having a mental episode, call 911,” she said. “We can get a crisis intervention officer there and AMR (ambulance service).”
Thomas said JPD officers offer it whenever possible but cannot force an individual to take it.
Panhandling occurs not just in Fondren but throughout the city, Thomas said.
“It’s a growing problem,” she said. “There’s very little the police department can do. The people panhandling have rights. We’re there to try to make sure everyone is safe, the people panhandling and citizens.”
Not all panhandlers are homeless and not all homeless are panhandlers, said Jill Buckley, executive director of Stewpot, which provides services for people in need such as lunch 365 days a year, a clothing closet. a food pantry and operates three overnight shelters.
“I know there are people panhandling and they’re not drug addicts,” she said. “It’s just how they survive.”
Buckley said she does not give money to anyone without asking what it’s going for and asking herself if she can freely give it.
“I really encourage people to follow their gut in any given interaction,” she said. “I encourage people to follow the movement of the Holy Spirit. That’s the way I do that in my own life.”
She applauds Fondren Renaissance Foundation for being proactive. “Fondren and downtown Jackson are trying to discern by situation what is needed instead of taking a blanket approach that glosses over the intricacies,” she said.
Buckley has noticed an uptick in the number of people seeking help from Stewpot whether it’s a free lunch, items from its food pantry or shelter. “We have noticed an increasing number of people on the street,” she said.
Eight hundred to 900 unique individuals rely on Stewpot’s shelters annually, said Buckley, who estimates Jackson’s homeless population ranges from 1,200 to 1,500 individuals.
She attributes the uptick in the number of homeless to rising housing costs plus an increase in what it costs to purchase groceries and other necessities. “Getting into an apartment or house now requires more resources on the front end to do that,” she said.
An individual who has a job, gets paid weekly and can afford to pay for a hotel room often doesn’t have enough money left after that to save for the required deposits and other fees to move into an apartment, Buckley said.
“There are a lot of people living on the edge of homelessness,” she said. “Once they fall into homeless, it can be difficult to move from it.”
Homelessness is a complex problem and even if a city had billions to spend on the problem, it wouldn’t totally solve it, she said.
“Some people are not going to have a stable housing situation until they address drug abuse,” she said. Some people are not going to have a stable housing situation until they take their medication regularly. Some people are not going to have a stable housing situation until they earn a living wage.”
Cities across the country are responding to the growing population of homeless individuals in different ways, she said. Some have come up with creative situations that provide housing and wrap-around social services, while others are taking a hardline approach.
In Dallas, a 60-unit tiny house community has been built complete with a post office, laundromat, bus stop and a social services agency across the street. “That’s very expensive to pull off,” Buckley said.
In the metro area, the Jackson Resource Center REACH (Resource Empowerment Activates Change & Hope) Langley Campus offers permanent housing for chronically homeless individuals and support services at the site where Community Place Nursing Home once cared for senior adults.
Located near Battlefield Park, the center at 1129 Langley Ave. delivers dorm-style living for 22 individuals, who must pay a percentage of their income toward their rent and offers numerous services on site.
Putalamus “Tala” White, age 48, the executive director and CEO of the resource center, hopes eventually to convert overgrown property in west Jackson to a transitional campus for the homeless similar to Haven for Hope in San Antonio, Texas, which provides housing for individuals who have been homeless and has offices for multiple service providers they can access without leaving the 22-acre campus.
