PORT RICHEY, Fla. — The Port Richey Police Department has partnered with agencies that provide services for the area's homeless to help address the issue in the city.

"Homelessness is not unique to Port Richey — it's all over the country," said Chief Cyrus Robinson. "So, we just decided that we were going to try maybe a little different approach where we would go out and we would make contact with individuals to see, in fact, if they are in need of services."

Robinson said he reached out to the Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County, The Sword and Spoon, Metropolitan Ministries, and Boley Centers to learn what resources they can provide to the area's homeless. Officers will now be able to connect those who want services with information about how to do that.

Robinson said the new effort is not due to a growth in the city's homeless population.

"We just wanted to get ahead of it," he said. "We've had a homeless population issue, whether it's some small petty crimes or just trespassing. There tends to be a lot of trash and debris left behind at these camp sites and things of that nature.

"So, it's a quality of life issue for the citizens of Port Richey, but it's also a quality of life issue for these individuals, especially the ones that don't know which way to turn."

"That's just about every department we will have at the table trying to solve the common problem, which is our homeless issue right now with the rise in rent and no place for affordable housing," said The Sword and Spoon President David Miller.

Miller said The Sword and Spoon focuses on homeless outreach. He said the group hosts a lunch where people can get food and get plugged into services.

Miller said The Sword and Spoon also deploys mobile services around the county to locate, identify and assess homeless individuals. 

"A lot of them don't know even where to go sometimes or who to call," he said. "So, it could be a while during the outreach side of it because you've got to build up that trust."

Officers can now also help agencies like The Sword and Spoon make the initial contact with a person needing services. Patrol officer Catey Caramiello carried supplies like extra clothes, food, and water to give to homeless people she encountered even before these new partnerships. She said she's already given Miller's phone number to homeless people she's encountered.

"The same people I've given his number to, they're like, 'Oh, he got me help,'" Caramiello said. "There were people who moved down here from Tennessee, I want to say. They were living in their car. I gave him the number, and he was able to actually get them on a bus back to Tennessee to their family."

K9 officer Jason Zimmerman said there are some homeless individuals he's encountered repeatedly. He says some don't want help, but that the new partnerships could be a step forward for those who do.

"I think it's a good start to get to an end game, but what is the end game?" asked Zimmerman. "But we have to start somewhere. I think it's a right foot in the right direction to be able to provide services to people."

Robinson said making contact is just the first step in this process. The second step will be to move people on from any property they're not allowed to camp on, followed by a site clean-up.