Mobile’s homeless voice concerns amid newly hired homeless outreach coordinator

MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — While Mobile hired its first homeless outreach coordinator , the city’s homeless population voiced what they want to see under the new hire’s leadership.

Kendell Young started his new position on Monday as Mobile’s homeless outreach coordinator. He said he is tasked with collaborating with various outreach programs to alleviate homelessness in Mobile.

Young, among other city leaders, recently traveled to Houston, Texas, to take notes on how Harris County leaders tackled their homeless problem.

“It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s going to be a process,” Young said.

Meanwhile, Chad Smith, a homeless man in downtown Mobile, said he hopes the relief will come soon because he doesn’t know where he’s going to sleep each night.

“We can’t sleep anywhere because we have to hide to sleep because the police will get us,” Smith said.

The Homeless Outreach Team, according to Deputy Public Safety Director Curtis Graves, has been in the works for two years.

The team consists of two uniformed police officers tasked with the homeless population.

City officials said the team might expand the team in the future, but as of right now, they said two officers are plenty.

“There has to be an olive branch and hammer approach to doing this,” Graves said.

While Graves said the “olive branch” approach is what they strive to use, homeless people who refuse services might require a “hammer approach.”

“And when they’re refusing those services, we’re going to dig a little deeper to find out why they’re homeless,” Graves said.

However, it’s just not that easy, according to another homeless man who wished not to be named.

“You go apply for the benefits, and you’ve got to wait three months before you get anything,” the man said. “That’s three months of you sitting up starving.”

Both homeless people that WKRG spoke with say getting a job isn’t easy either.

“We don’t have IDs, no social security card, and of course not money to get any of it,” Smith said.

Young said part of his plan is to inform and educate the homeless population.

“The more we can educate the community, the more we can educate the individuals, the more resources can be distributed to them to help them,” Young said.

Young estimated between 620-650 people in the city are homeless. That figure is according to a Housing First Inc. “Point in Time” poll. Young said those polls are conducted annually during the last week of January.

“The number has been typically around the same for the past 10 years here in Mobile,” Young said.

Young came with experience from the Waterfront Rescue Mission and Housing First Inc.

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