T-R PHOTO BY JOE FISHER MPACT program supervisor Ryan Keller reports that about a third of the program’s calls were related to homelessness in January and February.

The Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT) is being largely embraced by the people it aims to help according to its latest quarterly report.

Program supervisor Ryan Keller, who is also a mental health therapist with YSS, shared the organization’s impact by the numbers with the city council on Monday night. MPACT’s two community advocates, Darcy Andersen and Autumn Drewelow, responded to a combined 34 initial calls in January involving 76 people. In February, they responded to 18 calls involving 38 people.

Between those two months, police officers were able to return to the field and allow the advocates to take care of the situation on 90 percent of the calls. Two officers had to return on location after the initial contact in January, and four returned in February.

“That’s the goal, right? ” Keller asked. “The beauty of that is each one of those calls is something they are handling and the police are not so involved in.”

The advocates also perform followup visits with a majority of the people they come in contact with, and 96 percent of new contacts accepted assistance in January and February. In January alone, Andersen and Drewelow made 48 followup contacts with 89 people. Between initial contacts and follow ups, they worked with 165 people in January.

Along with relieving the police department from handling situations the community advocates are trained for, their goals are also to deter emergency room visits, arrests and homelessness. They were able to do so on more than half of their initial contacts to start the year.

Typically mental health is the most reported reason for MPACT calls. In January and February, homelessness issues or home insecurity was the largest issue reported. About 29 percent of the January calls and a third of the February calls were related to homelessness.

Andersen shared a story of one call she responded to when a caller faced the possibility of losing their home. The caller told 911 dispatch they wanted to “walk into traffic” while Andersen was listening and waiting to be dispatched. When she arrived on the scene, the caller said they did not feel like they had other options. They were behind on bills and did not know what to do.

“I sat with him for a while and talked about what’s going on. He has just been treading water in the deep end for so long and getting worn out and overwhelmed,” Andersen said. “Mentally he can’t keep a job and financially he has a lot going on. I find he’s not really suicidal and he admitted that. He just felt like this was his only option.”

Andersen immediately began helping this person with resources to assist with utility bills, got him on a waiting list for counseling and started preparing him to find work. She is still searching for programs that help with property taxes. He owns his home, and one of his biggest concerns is keeping it, according to Andersen.

“Usually I’m good at leaving everything at work. This one came home with me,” she said. “It’s not just a job. I really care about this guy.”

Andersen said one of her biggest wishes for MPACT is for more funding to get hotel stays for people who are homeless. MPACT often contacts the Bridge Home in Ames seeking assistance, but Bridge Home is often full. They help people with 30-day stays and some funding to get them on their feet.

Councilor Gary Thompson asked Andersen how many units Marshalltown needs for people facing homelessness.

“I would take an entire hotel,” Andersen said.

FOR MORE INFO

To learn more about the Marshalltown Police and Community Team (MPACT) visit www.yss.org/mpact