Jefferson City Council's Taskforce on Homelessness held its second meeting on Thursday. The task force was assembled over the summer to address rising numbers of unhoused people in the city.
Thursday’s meeting focused on current resources available for those unhoused individuals. Each organization at the meeting presented an analysis on their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and any threats that would impact their ability to address the issue.
Mayor Ron said the task force is still in its early stages.
“This was our second meeting," Fitzwater said. "I think they're getting comfortable with each other and, you know, trying to sort out how they fit into the equation."
Fitzwater said the city’s most pressing issue has to do with housing during certain times of the year.
“It's just finding places for people to get out of the cold, I think is probably the biggest gap," Fitzwater said. "And, you know, that's one that we're very rapidly approaching.”
When the Jefferson City Council created the task force, it was given until April 2025 to create a comprehensive report detailing solutions to the issue. Fitzwater said this is a tentative timeline for the project.
“It's not about speed, we want to make sure that we do it right, that we address the issues. So we'll keep pushing them but we're not going to try to hit an artificial deadline of being done by April if we're not ready to put the report together,” Fitzwater said. “But we don't want to drag it out either. I mean we want to make sure that we're staying on task and that we have something, and we can send back to Council at the appropriate time.”
Major Justin Windell, Corps officer at Salvation Army and the task force chair, said the groups are figuring out how to best collaborate with one another to address the needs of the community.
“So we really are just trying to educate both ourselves and the community on what is available for meeting this need of homelessness in the community," Windell said. "You know, as we especially get closer to the colder months, this is something that's going to become more and more of an issue. And so, we're trying to figure out how we can better partner and see even what resources are available.”
The Salvation Army in Jefferson City has 31 available beds, with an additional 14 cots during inclement weather.
Mental health was noted as a priority matter to discuss at the meeting. Windell said they’re concerned with mental health issues that lead to homelessness becoming worse as people remain unhoused. Getting around the city was also mentioned as a key point.
“We definitely have transportation issues throughout the community," Windell said. "There's a number of things that are available for people and different places that they can go for services. But how do we bridge that gap and connect them from each of those services, one to the next."
