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1. Who are the core members of H.E.A.R.T.?

● Service Providers: These members will be key to connecting to community resources and providing quality case management.

● Uniformed Police Officer: The officer will be present to ensure safety of the team and beneficiaries, with a focus on building relationships with people the team encounters. This will ideally create an environment of trust and support around law enforcement presence.

● City staff member: The city staff member will be present to assist with relationship building and resource allocation, coordination with City staff and more.

● Community Advocate/Volunteer: This member will be trained and add capacity to the team. A community advocate/volunteer will never participate in the team without City staff or law enforcement present.

2. How can I learn more about H.E.A.R.T.?

If you have questions or are interested in learning more about the Homeless Engagement And Response Team (HEART), please reach out to Marilyn Nguyen at mnguyen@cityofspartanburg.org or Beth Rutherford at brutherford@cityofspartanburg.or or you can call the HEART number at 864-591-4417.

3. How will H.E.A.R.T. operate?

The team’s focus will be on unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness on the streets of the City of Spartanburg, particularly those that are not already connected and receiving services. HEART’s proactive engagement will give more opportunities to our unhoused residents and the rest of the community to learn about the efforts being made to support our goals of making homelessness brief and rare in Spartanburg. The key to the success of this team will involve its engagement outside of its outreach operations with our homeless residents as well. They will also be collaborating and coordinating with entities such as the Homeless Taskforce, City of Spartanburg staff, business owners, and more to ensure that our community all are aware of and have the opportunity to get involved!