Hope Connections Executive Director Christa Hawkins (second from left) listens as Minden Mayor Nick Cox explains the need for assistance with homeless persons during a council workshop.
By Pat Culverhouse
A Shreveport-based consortium of care which provides assistance to homeless persons will be lending its expertise to the city of Minden to help individuals who are without housing.
Christa Hawkins, executive director of Hope Connections, told City Council members that her organization could be helpful since Minden is in its service area.
“We seek out the homeless through our street outreach team, form relationships and try to get these individuals into housing,” she told council members during a workshop session. “Sheltering is possible, but housing is our goal.”
Minden Mayor Nick Cox said he asked Hawkins to talk to council members because of a number of homeless individuals in the area. Following an incident last year, Chief of Police Jared McIver said his officers had identified several homeless camps, including one in a wooded area behind the Minden High School softball field.
Hawkins said Hope Connections workers are well trained and have experience in dealing with those she described as “unhoused persons.” She said it’s better for experienced personnel to interact with the homeless than private individuals.
“We’re trained to recognize a variety of problems the average individual, no matter how well-intended they are, would not identify,” she said. “We do more than give them a little money or something to eat. We are looking for solutions for the long term.”
Council member Andy Pendergrass said he has known Hawkins for some time, calling her “…a problem solver who gets to the root problem of the homeless. I’m glad she came to talk about helping us with the unhoused.”
Pendergrass also suggested the council might consider taking a look at the city’s budget to allocate funds for the issue.
Hawkins said Hope Connections, a non-profit organization with 25 employees, has been around since the late 1990s. According to its website, Hope’s mission is “We walk beside them on the difficult journey from surviving to thriving.”
“We took on programs no one else wanted and there are no duplications in our programs,” she said “We’re a safe haven anyone can enter regardless of addiction, illness or other conditions.”
Hawkins said will make plans for more conversations with Minden officials to determine ways her organization can assist.