The Myrtle Beach City Council has created a subcommittee that is dedicated to focusing on the homeless community and ways to work together with local groups to reduce chronic homelessness along the Grand Strand.
The subcommittee was voted on at the council meeting on February 27, and it was decided that councilwoman Mary Jeffcoat will serve as the chair.
“As a community we really haven’t addressed the people for whatever reason don’t feel like they can’t come in off the streets, they either have addictions, mental health issues or they have been on the street so long they don’t think they need help.” Jeffcoat said.
In early March, a video taken from the inside of a Myrtle Beach Mcdonalds went viral with more than 100 million views on Facebook showing the exchange between a Myrtle Beach police officer, Mcdonalds employees, and a homeless man.
“Our community, our residents, our faith based groups are doing everything we can to help our homeless and that viral video does not tell the right story.” Jeffcoat said.
Mayor Brenda Bethune says the committee will be working alongside Myrtle Beach homeless outreach officers, business owners and non-profits to address where they lack resources.
“I’ve talked about the mayor in Albuquerque New Mexico and some of the programs he has started, Charlotte has a great program.” Bethune said.
She says they haven’t scheduled their first meeting yet but that right now they are still working to collect data.
