What's the latest with the Homeless Initiative?

 You may have noticed we have been a little quiet with social media lately and we hope the absence has made the heart grow fonder. But, the Homeless Initiative and the District III Sheriff's Office have been busier then ever behind the scenes to bolster our street engagement homeless recovery efforts.

I'm proud to announce and introduce Deputy Stephanie Krager who has become my collaborative partner both behind the scenes and on the streets of our community.

Deputy Krager has been the Crisis Intervention Coordinator for the Sheriff's Office and she has held this title for more than eight years now. Deputy Krager brings a learned skill to the table with addressing the mental health component that overlaps with homeless recovery.  As of April 1st we have comingled our specialized skills to provide a more complete and thorough assessment when evaluating the individual complications that sometimes hinder recovery from homelessness. For the past eight years she has established relationships with the mental health community and patiently navigated a more streamlined approach that allows those in need of mental health intervention to be able to connect to services.

We have been working together on the streets in your communities addressing some of the most lingering concerns with both homeless plight and mental health issues. Deputy Krager and myself don't have an office and that's how we like it -- problems that exist on the street have to be solved on the street. Recently, we met up with five homeless candidate's at a McDonald's restaurant within Town N' Country to put into action their exit strategy that will soon get them on the road to recovery. It's these types of images that tell the story of the work we perform to help make our community a better place to live and help people resolve personal problems they may not otherwise know how to solve on their own. 

More recently we have blurred the organizational lines amongst agencies within Hillsborough County that traditional don't work together. The Homeless Initiative and Tampa Police Homeless Liaison now sit together at the table with the Public Defender's Office to help identify high profile cases of homelessness.

Did you know that one homeless man in Hillsborough County has been arrested a startling 87 times? It's an example of the revolving door of justice that never gets slammed shut. Working closely with Marie Marino and Lorenzo Anderson with the Public Defenders Office we now flag these persistent cases of homelessness; and, when the outcome is incarceration -- the Homeless Initiative intervenes with the cooperation of the judicial system to coordinate an exit strategy from the point of incarceration to transitional living off the streets.

 

 Navigating the institutional homeless recovery system when your in a state of despair can be overwhelming for the average homeless client. Our approach has become more comprehensive and systematic. From the first contact on the street to the final conclusion of recovery we follow each client through the maze of government assistance. Having hands-on experience with social service programs our clients aren't left to their own fate. It has become a one-on-one relationship that attempts to break their isolation, build their self esteem, and sometimes kick them in the pants when they need a little more encouragement.

Our next Homes of Second Chances project is waiting on the side line and if we can pull it off I believe it will be an impressive accomplishment as this unique, even unorthodox, rehousing model gains steam. We have met with a number of agencies within the county to find the right audience to support the fundamental strategy for self sustainable rehousing. Although the outcome always remains in limbo when you think out of the box our next residential project is essentially a residential compound comprising three main houses with 12 individual units and almost 10,000 square feet of living space.

So, as you can see we have been busy both behind the scenes and on the streets and without  your support we wouldn't be able to do it on our own. It takes an entire community to solve some of these most enduring problems that tear at the fabric of our society.

Thanks for being patient with the updates and we look forward to sharing more of the continued successes with the Homeless Initiative very soon.

 

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 

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