Jefferson City Homeless Task Force hears from community during Thursday meeting
Erika McGuire
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Jefferson City Homeless Task Force met Thursday morning and heard directly from individuals who have experienced homelessness.
Created in June 2024 by the Jefferson City Council, the task force aims to better understand homelessness and connect people with vital resources. It brings together law enforcement, elected officials and nonprofit organizations to tackle homelessness in Jefferson City.
Nancy Damreau was one of the individuals who shared their stories with the task force. She said she became homeless after losing her remote job when the company moved operations to the Philippines. She said she lived in her car for four months.
“The time I was out on the streets, it was a pretty slick slide, it was hang on for dear life every day,” Damreau said.
Through it all, she says one thing kept her going.
“My grandchildren and my children deserve better than that,”Damreau said.
She said she recently got back on her feet after a bed opened up at the Salvation Army, where she connected with resources that helped her rebuild her life.
“I have a home, I have a job, and everything has worked out great,” Damreau said. “Everything she suggested I just took it and ran with it, it was like okay let’s do this I can do it I can do it,”
Damearu said the Salvation Army saved her life and gave back her confidence to move forward.
“They did, they saved my life, they gave me back my self worth,” Damreau said.
However, raising awareness about available resources is key to addressing homelessness, she said.
“If I had known of all these resources maybe I would have been in recovery a lot longer than the past three and a half years,” Damreau said.
She said the challenges the homeless community faces goes beyond just find a place to sleep.
“How are you going to get a good job when you don’t even have a place to lay your head ?Or are you going to get a good job when you don’t have the adequate clothing? You pull up with your whole house and car with you they’re going to go, ‘Woah wait a minute,'” Damreau said.
Rebecca Kellogg also shared her experience with homelessness, which she says lasted eight months after she was evicted from her home. She emphasized how a lack of awareness about available help made her situation worse.
“Really help citizens with resources, like a gentlemen pointed out if I had known that the library or Mid-Mo Legal could have helped me with my eviction while it was happening, I could have completely avoided being homeless,” Kellogg said.
She added she’s glad to see Jefferson City is taking steps to address the issue.
“I think it’s cool Jefferson City is realizing that we could benefit from a task force, address this before it becomes a really really big issue,” Kellogg said.”I am really proud of our city,”
Scott Johnston, with the Housing the Community Jefferson City, said it is looking for property in Jefferson City to have a one-stop hub for homeless resources but they are faces barriers.
“Its a combination of factors, the main thing is it in a location where we can serve folks that have these needs and the second thing is it in an area where people will accept us in terms of the services we provide and the people that we serve,” Johnston said.
Room at the Inn is an overnight shelter in Jefferson City that operates from early December through mid-March. The organization also supports “Project Homeless Connect,” a September event that connects people experiencing homelessness with essential services.