MV police officer’s new role links homeless with vital services Written by Megan V. Winslow
Throughout her nearly 18-year tenure with the Mountain View Police Department, Janleah McPherson became known for the shoes and clothes she carried in the back of her patrol car. Her duties as a patrol officer did not entail donating these items to those she encountered on her beat, but she did so anyway and without the approval of her supervisor.
In March, McPherson, 44, took over as the MVPD’s newest community outreach officer. It is a role she has desired for years, even before 2017, when a grant began funding the position. Following in the footsteps of MVPD officers Mike Taber and Ruben Gonzalez before her, McPherson is now the link connecting Mountain View’s unstably housed population with the local food, shelter and mental health services available to them.
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And LCSA stepped up big time.
In a year unlike any other in more than a generation, LCSA pumped more than $325,000 of assistance into those communities, representing 1,800 families and 7,000 adults and children served. Most notably, LCSA sent out close to $120,000 in housing stability aid and $85,000 in emergency food resources.
The overall emergency response represents a 70% increase in aid compared to 2019, directly representing the tremendous amount of need that working families faced in 2020.
“Whether it was housing stability assistance, emergency food cards, childcare cost coverage, or increased internet bills for distance learning, LCSA staff dedicated their whole selves to standing with working families throughout the disruptions of 2020,” said Executive Director Eryn Byram.
By Mike Gutwig
Labor’s Community Service Agency’s (LCSA) annual Presents From Partners “Labor of Love” holiday program took on a whole new look this year due to the coronavirus. For the past two decades, children and their families facing tough times have gathered at Sheet Metal Workers Local 16’s headquarters in Northeast Portland for a holiday treat. They enjoyed a union-catered lunch and visited with Santa Claus before being led into rooms filled with toys, bikes, stuffed animals, clothes and presents for their parents. They could choose what they wanted.
This year, because of COVID-19 crowd restrictions ordered by the governor, the party had to be canceled. But as LCSA Executive Director Eryn Byram said: “Hey COVID, you ain’t got nothing on organized labor. We are ready to roll!”
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