Homelessness and Hunger Awareness event held in Lake Charles

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - November is homelessness and hunger awareness month.

Today, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, along with several other organizations, hosted an educational event to bring awareness to the issues in the community.

A panel was held at the Pryce Miller Recreation Center in Lake Charles to discuss homelessness, the common misconceptions of unhoused citizens, and how they, as organizations, can improve.

“The main message is understanding that it is hard for unhoused population to deal with all the different barriers they have to achieve housing stability, and we have to make sure to treat people with grace. Approach the situation on their pace, not forcing them to move into one direction or the other, but build that relationship first, and then from there, advocate for what their needs are,” said Erika Dosier, the program’s manager for the Human Services Office for the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury.

The police jury told 7News the most prevalent issue when it comes to homelessness in Calcasieu Parish is unaffordable housing. The police jury does have a “point in time” count coming up in January where they take count of the unhoused population within the parish, interact with people in need, and gather more information on how they can assist.

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