Two teenage girls were working the evening shift at a business along Eureka Road recently when a homeless man entered. He started acting aggressively, yelling at the two teens. He tried to make a purchase, wandered outside to “count his money” and smoke a cigarette. He eventually re-entered the establishment, this time wanting to use the bathroom while shouting profanities at the two girls. Taylor Police answered the 911 call a short time later arrested the man…

Fortunately, no one was hurt in this incident, although the two teenage girls were visibly shaken.

This type of thing happens across America daily. Taylor is no different and the Eureka Road corridor has become an all-too-frequent home of this type of activity. The homeless population includes families with children, veterans, youth and individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues. Each group faces unique challenges that require specific approaches to provide adequate support and services.

Through the hard work of Lt. Alex Stellini and others on the Taylor Police, maybe these types of incidents will slowly but surely subside.

The department has earned a grant of $175,000 through the Community Policing Development Mircogrants to create a new “Homeless Outreach and Referral Program.”

According to the program, two officer teams will meet for four hours, four days per week to seek out people who are homeless and may be suffering from other afflictions like drug or alcohol abuse, mental health problems, etc. The officers will meet with those people and offer to sign them into treatment programs or other existing assistance options.

The COPS grant has no matching costs to the City, its taxpayers or the department.

“They know that we have a huge homeless problem around the country and in Taylor,” said Police Chief John Blair. “This is a step in the right direction. Alex is in charge of many of our grants. We pitched and bounced ideas around and came up with this one. It was a great job and a good first step.

“People always ask, ‘What can you do with all these homeless people?’ We can’t just throw them in jail. We want to help them. With Alex’s ideas and programs and the partnerships that we have in the community, I think this is a great step.”

Mayor Tim Woolley agreed.

“This gives us the opportunity to stay in contact with homeless people,” he said. “To check in on them. One day they might not want any help, the next day they might. It gives us access. And it doesn’t hurt that it puts another (police) vehicle on the road on a constant basis.”

The grant money will fund the actual cost of the patrols, which will be done on overtime. Over the course of the contract, the department expects the officers to work approximately 2,666 hours.

The department has signed a memorandum of understanding with The Guidance Center to partner in the program. Located in Southgate, The Guidance Center has been in existence since 1958 and focuses on development, resilience and well-being. It works with communities and schools to support adults and children experiencing mental health difficulties and other challenges.

It offers a wide range of programs and services through 18 locations, connecting those in need with food resources, suicide prevention and many other support services.

In this program, Guidance Center staff will work directly with Taylor Police to evaluate each situation and provide qualified clinical staff to take calls from police 24 hours per day, seven days per week.