New Hanover County and City of Wilmington discuss joint efforts to handle homelessness in Cape Fear

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County Commissioners and the City of Wilmington held a joint meeting on Monday to discuss the homeless situation in the area.

More than 2 dozen service providers spoke during the meeting, providing and answering questions about how they help people who are experiencing homelessness.

Some of the providers who spoke included The Healing Place, Eden Village, and the Good Shepherd Center.

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said it was great hearing from so many providers.

“First of all, about the number of providers that we have out there,” Saffo said. “The great work that they are doing, they just need additional resources, additional beds. And then everybody coming together to say we got a problem. Let’s see what we can do collectively.”

Those at the meeting signed a resolution supporting efforts to create a concrete plan for dealing with homelessness in the Cape Fear.

New Hanover County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield Jr said one of the next steps will be to get out into the community to see what is needed.

“To actually start putting boots on the ground, resources in hands and helping increase capacity,” Barfield said. “We authorized our staff, both the city and the county to work together with these agencies here to determine number one what they need and how we can help them and then indeed doing just that.”

Saffo added that looking at what has and has not worked in other cities and states will be an important part of this plan.

“Thinking outside of the box, looking at best practice methods from around the country that are working, some that are not working. Making sure that we steer clear of those processes and programs that are not working. Really focusing on what we can do as a community, all working together, pulling our resources together.”

Working group meetings will begin in about a month, but an exact date for when the plan will be implemented is not yet known.