Beaufort County officials looking for solutions to help the homeless and mentally ill

What happens to the homeless? Where do they go? As a committee of the Beaufort County Council considered on Tuesday whether police should be authorized to arrest people found sleeping on county property, those questions came up.

The public facilities committee was discussing whether to recommend changing an ordinance to allow sheriff’s deputies to arrest and prosecute those caught sleeping, cooking or camping on government property.

“I’ve been told that Beaufort County has a history of pushing people away from this county,” said District 3 Councilman York Glover. “I don’t want to be a part of that.”

The full County Council will next consider the amendment.

Beaufort County spokesperson Chris Ophardt said homelessness and lack of mental health services are an issue in part because of rapid growth in the county. The only homeless shelters nearby are in Savannah and Charleston.

District 7 Councilman Logan Cunningham said he has begun working on solutions to homelessness and mental health and their intersection.

“Everybody is aware in Beaufort County how fast we’re growing and how fast this area has changed,” Cunningham said. “It’s becoming clear that we need some kind of service right here in Beaufort County that we can directly help these individuals.”

People are falling through the cracks, he said, and that makes it hard for them to get the help they need, whether because they’re too young, too old, or don’t fit the description the agencies are looking for.

“A lot of these people keep getting bounced around from place to place to the point where sometimes they give up,” Cunningham said.

It took the county five to six weeks to get the help for the man living outside of the administration building after he was turned away multiple times from several mental health agencies.

One of Cunningham’s short-term goals is figuring out a way to support, familiarize and communicate with mental health and homeless agencies in Beaufort County that are already dealing with these issues.

“We’re trying to collaborate with anyone and everyone that’s willing to help,” Cunningham said.

Among those agencies: United Way of the Lowcountry, South Carolina Department of Social Services, and Beaufort Housing Authority.

Cunningham also said he wants to built a county-run facility that would take in those struggling with mental health issues or experiencing homelessness so they wouldn’t have to send them elsewhere.

For that to happen, the county would need to collaborate with state organizations such as Under One Roof or S.C. Department of Mental Health, Cunningham said.

Cunningham said he and District 10 Councilman Lawrence McElynn are already working to acquire resources for agencies to provide these services.

Said Glover: “I want to do something tangible that we can demonstrate that we are really trying to address the problem of homeless or mental health.”