By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph city officials are still working on ways to tackle a growing homeless population.
One way the city is addressing the problem is with numerous agencies working together to tackle it.
Mayor John Josendale says at the forefront of those agencies is the United Way.
"They've kind of been the leader, but they bring whether it be Family Guidance or CAP or the different organizations, they all come together and they meet on a regular basis and they talk about what the issues are," Josendale tells host of the KFEQ Hotline Barry Birr.
Josendale says work is also being done by Community Services, putting together cold shelters for homeless people during these winter months.
Josendale says several agencies around the city put in a lot of time and effort to help the homeless population
"The amount of money that is put into just making sure that the cold weather shelters are there, or the ones to make sure that there are vouchers for some people to get rooms or to get out of the cold, or to get someone started in the right direction," Josendale explains.
Josendale says many times help getting started is what people need and there are a number of agencies that help in that aspect.
Cities saw the homeless population beginning to grow after several state mental health facilities were shut down.
Josendale says that is a big issue because many people suffering from homelessness has mental health issues, drug problems, and numerous other issues.
"The point that we made to the legislators is, you know we had a facility that took care of that in the past, now if you have that where do they go, where do you put them, or where how do you get them help, and the ones that don't want help how do you deal with that," Josendale says.
Josendale says the feedback they got from legislators is that they have an understanding of the problem.