Outreach program seeks funding to counsel, befriend homeless in city's downtown

Belleville city council fully endorses expanding the Welcoming Streets outreach program to make a tangible difference in the lives of homeless people frequenting the city's downtown.

But, council decided Monday to hold off on a financial support request from program host Downtown District BIA for the time being until Hastings County reviews its program funding in September given the county is responsible for social and health services in the community.

The current $70,000 in funding of the program since June 2021 by Hastings County is set to end in December leaving the future of Welcoming Streets in limbo.

Loss of funding would end the programs ongoing work to support and counsel people in the downtown core who are homeless, struggling with addiction or mental health challenges.

Luisa Sorrentino, DDBIA executive director, appealed to city council Monday in a deputation for council's support and said her organization is seeking $130,000 each year for three years beginning in 2023 to hire an additional outreach worker for its rapid mobile support efforts to counsel the homeless.

During her deputation, a video was shown to council of Belleville Police Chief Mike Callaghan endorsing the Welcoming Streets program which has helped reduce police responses to the city core.

“The Welcoming Streets initiative, I believe, has made an incredible difference in the way we are being able to effectively support our members in the community who are suffering from homelessness,” Callaghan said.

The police chief said the program “has been a significant game changer for our entire community” and strongly advocated Welcoming Streets moving forward with the needed funding.

Sorrentino said the groundbreaking program has made a difference in the lives of homeless persons in downtown thanks to the outreach efforts by Welcoming Streets steward Sara Behring to comfort those in need.

Sorrentino thanked the 13 agencies who have made the program so successful and by doing so reducing the demand on police services to respond downtown.

“Poverty and mental illness are not a crime. So, we need to make sure as a community we remember that and that a service likes Welcoming Streets helps with exactly that. Not all situations that happen downtown need the presence of police,” she said.

“Sometimes Sara spends one hour with an individual and she may be averting three calls that would happen that day if she wasn't there trying to defuse or de-escalate the situation.”

Sorrentino said Behring counsels up to 90 individuals in her daily outreach efforts in the downtown but in order to keep up with the workload, an extra outreach steward is needed.

Data collected over the course of the program shows there have been more than 500 interactions with individuals through the rapid mobile support service staffed by Behring.

In a video presented to council Monday showcasing the program, one of the individuals helped by Behring said on camera, “when I meet with Sara and sit with her, she actually treats me like a human, like I'm actually worth something.

“I've never felt this good being around somebody in my life,” the man said.