By Bethany Hooper
Associate Editor

(Sept. 20, 2024) Members of Diakonia’s Rapid Response Team are now working fulltime to assist homeless individuals in the tri-county area.

In April of 2023, Diakonia launched its Rapid Response Team, a pilot program in which members are dispatched as soon as law enforcement, EMTs, hospitals, or other service providers identify new homeless individuals. Earlier this month, however, the nonprofit announced the program is now fully operational in Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset counties.

“We were operating every day of the week, we just weren’t able to respond to all the calls with boots on the ground,” said Vance Larson, team leader. “Now, we have that capability.”

For years, Diakonia has been a member of the Worcester County Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), a multi-agency effort to connect homeless individuals with local resources. While HOT members go out into the community at scheduled dates and times, staff with the Rapid Response Team are dispatched in real time.

Working alongside HOT members and local agencies, Larson, Program Coordinator Stephanie VanGasbeck, and Rapid Response Team member Rick Hamilton spend their week responding to the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness and connecting them to local resources. In its first year, the program aided 319 people.

However, the efforts of the Rapid Response Team do not stop in Worcester County, as members are now responding to calls from 40 to 50 agencies across the tri-county area. When local law enforcement or first responders identify a homeless person, the Rapid Response Team is there to help.

“When it comes to our clients and the police, we make that soft barrier between them,” VanGasbeck said.

Larson agreed. He noted that in most instances, a police officer is not present when responding to a complaint or need.

“That’s to our advantage, because we aren’t coming in with gun and badge,” he said. “We are coming to say, ‘Hey, do you need a sandwich? Can we get you connected to some services? We can put you in rehab, generally the same day.’”

Rapid Response Team members say a majority of the homeless individuals they encounter are struggling with substance use and mental health disorders. Others, they add, are victims of trafficking or domestic violence, or have lost homes due to rising rent. Larson, however, said the homeless population doesn’t count the “hidden homeless.”

“Homelessness is very fluid,” he said. “We have a lot of people that we work with, which we call the hidden homeless. These are people who are hopping from hotel to hotel, paycheck to paycheck. They sleep a night in the car, then they go to the hotel, and then they couch surf.”

With outreach, however, the Rapid Response Team is able to connect with those individuals, regardless of their situation. While their work may be challenging at times, Larson said it is rewarding.

“We’re passionate about this work and we care immensely about the population,” he said. “We know that sometimes very bad times fall on some very good people, and some people lose their way. And that’s OK. We’re not about judging them. We’re going to help them.”