SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Many eyes are on the city of Sioux Falls after city leaders highlighted the growing issues among the homeless population.
They cited different things as problem areas, such as cheap alcohol, addiction, and other cities sending their unhoused population to Sioux Falls.
While the Sioux Falls homeless population goes back decades, the city’s Homelessness Services Coordinator, Michelle Treasure, has only been on the job since the end of March. However, in her short time in the position, she’s been able to work with many local nonprofits.
“We’re able to get communications between the mayor’s office and the union gospel mission and really help each other like discover things that are happening in our city and how to like combat and really work together on how are we going to do and solve homelessness in our area or how are we going to help other nonprofits do better and how we all can work together?” CEO Union Gospel Mission, Eric Weber said.
Treasure says that coordinating with different entities in town is one of her main focuses.
“There’s overlap of services just with so many different providers. And so we just really want to make sure that we’re not sharing things that are duplicated,” Sioux Falls Homelessness Services Coordinator, Michelle Treasure said.
Another aspect of her job is collecting data from both people who use the homelessness services in town, and those who don’t use any services.
“And so that’s also been really interesting just to, you know, understand why people are doing what they do and just the journey that they go through every day,” Treasure said.
As Treasure tries to help both the city of Sioux Falls and the homeless population.
“We can’t lump all of this together and just try to make one solid goal to help this situation. We have to have these individual conversations with each person and really learn holistically about them and what it is that brought them here,” Treasure said.
But as her job continues to mold to Sioux Falls’ needs, as with anyone else, nonprofits say the best way to understand the homeless population is to spend time with them.
“I think what could be different is that she’s more hands on and more kind of like downtown, working with people with the– I don’t know if they’re doing this or not, but with the urban Indian, you know that she’s working with them, getting downtown more often, kind of working the streets,” Weber said.
As the city, nonprofits, and other entities work together to find a solution.
Treasure said the future of what her job will entail is uncertain, but that she is ready to continue coordinating efforts between homeless services in Sioux Falls.
