HelpCopsHelpUs: Deputy is lone ranger in working with Tampa's homeless

Monday, May 21, 2012

Deputy is lone ranger in working with Tampa's homeless

By: April Kellogg, FOX 13 News

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Hillsborough County deputy Steven Donaldson has no desk. He has no office, either. He works on the streets, working to get people off them.

"We engage every person individually one on one," said Donaldson, who is part of the department's homeless initiative.

In fact, he is the department's homeless initiative, solely helping on getting people off the streets.

"These folks, these human beings have to be accountable to another human being, and I'm that other human being," he said. He's now helped 90 people.

Many of their stories are on his website "helpcopshelpus.org." One of those stories is Ryan Lee's. "I was just really down on myself and feeling really bad about the position I was in and wallowing in self pity," Lee said.

Lee lost his job a year and a half ago, got hooked on drugs and wound up homeless. "I was charging my phone in front of a Walmart, and I guess somebody complained about me And that's when Donaldson was called.

"We were able to solve his problems right away because once he had a clear mind and a clear focus, he was on his way," Donaldson said.

Three weeks with Donaldson and Lee is now off drugs, has a roof over his head and is back in contact with his daughter Sophia. He's now also looking for work again.

"He's really just opened my eyes to where I could be and where I should be," Lee said. So how does he do it?

He's persistent and sometimes abrasive. Quite frankly, Donaldson can be a pain in the you know what. And that's what works.

"It might take six months, might take a year, but I wear them down because I'm not going anywhere," he said.

He wore Lee down. "I didn't like him," Lee said. But now? "Now, he is like my role model," he replied.

Some have slipped - ended up in jail - or back on the streets. But Donaldson is right back in their face.

"At the core, it's made me a better person, and with being a better person I'm a better officer," he said.

Deputy Steven Donaldson
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
Homeless Initiative
District III Office: (813) 247-0330
Email: sdonalds@hcso.tamp.fl.us
Facebook.com/HelpCopsHelpUs
HelpCopsHelpUs.org

2 comments:

AnonymousMay 29, 2012 at 4:52 AM
Helping someone always makes one a better person. Continue, this is a good thing.
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AnonymousMay 29, 2012 at 4:54 AM
What a great thing having Deputy Donaldson out there helping people help themselves.
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Welcome to Help Cops Help Us: A Homeless Initiative Blog

The Help Cops Help Us homeless initiative is a new problem-solving model centered on the root causes of homelessness. Its philosophy rests on the fundamental human principle that people, all people, will succumb to the human trait of inevitable behavior until intrigued or compelled to act differently.

The uniformed law enforcement officer is the epicenter of the street engagement model that uses a "coupling" technique, motivating each homeless candidate that becomes accountable to a singular and persistent mortal entity -- a street cop.

The coupling effect is a two-pronged approach where candidates who resist assistance and rehabilitation, by default will receive the law enforcement prong when behavior exhibits a callous disregard with laws and a communities desire in maintaining a certain quality of life.

The homeless candidate receives both direct and indirect assistance after a street assessment evaluates their individual needs and problems. We then solve their most basic problems so they may become self-sufficient.

We mend fences, rebuild character, solve their problems, then push them into the water where they are forced to learn how to swim again.

When they are off the streets and into housing we continue to monitor and follow-up until we are certain they have become self sufficient for long term sustainability.