TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — As Western New York continues clean up after the blizzard, several communities in the Northtowns are kicking off a push to help people facing homelessness.
The Twin Cities Task Force for the Homeless is an effort to get boots back on the ground to serve those in need.
"This has been a passion of many of us for a very long time," said Karen Carman, Coordinator of the Twin Cities Task Force for the Homeless. "It was very sad there were three people who passed away in our community. We also have to take a look at the bigger picture. Nationwide there were about 55 thousand people every year who pass away because of homelessness."
Carman said the new task force will work together to create a network of support for unhoused residents by way of local volunteer outreach workers in both Erie and Niagara Counties.
"We have all these players that are sitting at the table who make a difference, who will make a difference and the collaboration alone is going to make this a successful committee," said Carman.
Both Mayors of the Twin Cities were at the table and told 7 News, while the need to help isn't new, the Buffalo Blizzard was a harsh reminder of the harsh realities homelessness can bring.
"It's a scary world when it gets to be really cold out there and where are they going," said John White, Mayor of the City of Tonawanda. "We’ve had people pass away in our communities due to exposure in the middle of winter and to happen in this day in age is unheard of. It shouldn’t happen."
"The past couple weeks have really shown why these services are so important," said Austin Tylec, Mayor of North Tonawanda. "When mayor White approached me and council president cook approached me about coming together and creating this twin cities homeless task force, that was months ago and these things take time."
Committee members said providing shelter to everyone in need doesn't happen overnight so connecting people to proper resources, agencies and cultivating relationships are their first priorities.
"You know by the first time, fourth time, seventh time you might be able to get their first name," said White. "It's just seeing a friendly face and finding out a little bit about them and hopefully we can help them out."
Caram will begin committee training sessions on January 11th at Tonawanda City Hall. She'll be teaching ways to approach homelessness with an open mind and anyone who wants to volunteer is welcome.
"We want to help our neighbors," said Carman. "Buffalo is the city of good neighbors, well so are the twin cities on Tonawanda as well."
