Plea for help to Riviera Beach detective from homeless woman with newborn has warm ending

RIVIERA BEACH — If it was just her, if all she had to worry about was herself, Tyshameka Griffin could manage it.

She could go back to the streets among the homeless of Palm Beach County. She could spend her nights in Bicentennial Park and wait for food from St. George's Center, a church and homeless outreach center in Riviera Beach.

But, on Aug. 2, it was no longer only about her. Griffin, 39, had a baby boy, I'keem Timmons, delivered three days before via C-section.

If only she could stay longer at the hotel room she was now booked into. If only it wasn't checkout time. If only the hotel wasn't insisting she leave.

Where to go? What to do? Griffin had one call she felt she could make — to a detective with the Riviera Beach Police Department.

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'I never thought in a million years I would be homeless'

Life wasn't supposed to unfold like this.

Two years ago, Griffin had a part-time job and a house she was renting. Her rent was $1,200 per month — high, for her, but manageable. Then, she said, the landlord raised the rent to $1,900 per month.

She asked for a lower increase. No dice.

"He didn't want to hear anything," Griffin said.

Griffin, from West Palm Beach, left that house and joined a county homeless population that, by January 2023, reached nearly 1,900 people. She had some nights on the couches or in the spare rooms of family members. But she wasn't welcome to stay long. For the better part of two years, she was on the streets.

"I never thought in a million years I'd be homeless," she said. "I wouldn't wish that on no one."

During her time on the streets, Griffin became pregnant. She and the baby's father are still together, but he could not help her find shelter. So, when checkout time came at that hotel, Griffin called Detective Jennifer Jones of the Riviera Beach Police Department.

A plea for help to a Riviera Beach police detective

Griffin had met Jones at St. George's.

Jones, 47 and a single mother of two, had a passion for helping the homeless. Assigned to road patrol, her colleagues would notice that she made time to stop on cold days to offer a homeless person something warm to drink or eat.

A major in the department noticed, too, eventually plucking Jones from road patrol and making her the department's point person in helping the homeless.

It wasn't work other police officers were pressing to do, but, for Jones, it was a perfect fit.

"I have a very strong faith in God," she said. "I know God put me in Riviera Beach for a reason. As soon as I got there, I realized how many homeless people there were."

Jones learned everything she could so she could help as much as she could. She formed a good working relationship with Terri Ferguson, founder of the Riviera Beach Homeless Coalition, whom Jones describes as a "godsend."

"No one wants to be homeless," Jones said. "I would go out and check on them, especially the females who were prostitutes. When it was really cold outside, I would get them hot tea or soup."

For Jones, it wasn't just work; it was a calling. "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me," she said, quoting Jesus' words in the Book of Matthew.

Jones set about her work.

"I know all of the homeless people," she said. "I know their names. I know their personalities."

Detective made it her mission to help along with other organizations

But five months ago, she didn't know the woman lining up for food at St. George's.

"I hadn't seen her before," Jones explained. "I approached her, and that's when I learned that not only was she homeless, but she was homeless and pregnant."

Jones spent the next several months trying to make sure Griffin ate properly. She tried to get her access to prenatal care. Every organization Jones called on brought their A game. Her church, Christ Fellowship, provided Griffin with a steady source of food, thanks to its donations.

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Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County provided prenatal care information.

Jones had kept in touch to make sure Griffin and the baby on the way would be OK. That's why it was Jones who Griffin called when it was checkout time at the hotel and she and her 3-day old baby had nowhere to go.

"She called dispatch looking for me," Jones said.

Her colleagues tracked her down, and she swung into action.

"I drove over to the hotel," she said. "Basically, I told them, 'She isn't going anywhere.' I told them I was working something out."

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Jones again put her advocacy connections to work, and, again, the threads of Palm Beach County's social safety net refused to let Griffin and baby I'keem fall through.

The Lord's Place, an organization dedicated to helping the homeless, arranged for Griffin and the baby to stay at a hotel for 90 days. Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches set about looking for an apartment and is trying to help I'keem's father find work.

Griffin and the baby have a safe, warm place to stay. They expect to move to an apartment soon.

Don't make the mistake of crediting Jones. The detective is having none of it.

"This is not a Jennifer Jones thing," she said. "This is a group thing. We all have such determination to help people and such faith in God."

Jones' boss, Riviera Beach Police Chief Michael Coleman, said he is enormously proud of her.

"I always tell people, 'You can always arrest people, but how are you going to help?'" the chief said. "She's doing that triage, trying to get them the help they need. She's very passionate about that aspect of law enforcement. She's making that difference."

That difference means a new start for Griffin, who said she is determined to make a better life for herself and her son.

Jones isn't eager for credit, but Griffin gave her some, anyway.

"I know she helps," Griffin said. "She's a really nice individual. I love her."

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County detective helps homeless mother with newborn