Jackson Mayor John Horhn issued the following statement.
Mayor John Horhn today announced the creation of the City of Jackson’s Unhoused Task Force, a diverse group of advocates, business leaders, and community experts dedicated to developing actionable strategies to address homelessness and panhandling across the capital city.
The task force will be co-chaired by Melvin Stamps, representing Continuum of Care, and Jill Buckley, Executive Director of Stewpot Community Services. The group will provide recommendations to the Mayor and City Council aimed at enhancing coordination among service providers, identifying long-term housing solutions, and improving outreach and safety for both residents and the unhoused population.
Mayor Horhn said the formation of the task force is a vital step toward compassionate and sustainable solutions.
“Homelessness impacts every corner of our community, from our downtown business corridors to our neighborhoods,” said Mayor John Horhn. “Through this task force, we’re bringing together people who understand the complexity of this issue from every angle, advocates, service providers, and policy experts, to help us design solutions rooted in dignity and opportunity.”
Co-chair Melvin Stamps reflected on the collaborative spirit guiding the effort.
“Addressing homelessness requires a unified approach that goes beyond temporary support,” Stamps said. “Our goal is to help the city align resources, remove barriers, and strengthen partnerships that lead to permanent housing stability for Jackson residents.”
Co-chair Jill Buckley emphasized the importance of compassion and coordination.
“Every person in Jackson deserves to live with security and self-respect,” Buckley said. “This task force represents a commitment to listening, learning, and building a community response that offers real paths to housing and hope.”
The Unhoused Task Force will begin meeting later this month and deliver its initial recommendations to the Mayor by early 2026. Working groups will focus on housing access, mental health services, workforce re-entry, and panhandling reduction strategies that prioritize human-centered outcomes.
Members of the City of Jackson Unhoused Task Force:
· Melvin Stamps, Continuum of Care (Co-Chairman)
· Jill Buckley, Stewpot Community Services (Co-Chairman)
· Liz Brister, Downtown Jackson Partners
· Pat Bennett, Mississippi College School of Law
· Grace Greene, The Net, MDOC Satellite Facility Mentor
· Ledger Parker, Mississippi United To End Homelessness (MUTEH)
· Patricia Reese, Mayoral Transition Team
· Putalamus White, Jackson Resource Center
· Tiffany Jones, Jackson Public Schools
· Wendy Bailey, Mississippi Department of Mental Health Services
· Tamara Stewart, Mississippi Home Corporation
· Stacey Howard, Grace House
· Stuart Tirey, Central Mississippi Realtors
· Merrill McKewen, Habitat for Humanity
· Tim Collins, Mississippi Housing Partnership
· Sanetria Moore, Hinds Behavioral Health Services
32 comments:
"UNHOUSED Task Force" What a bunch of WOKE group think" assholes!
Well, this is not really the answer because if you provide support for homeless people, you end up with more homeless people... but at least they are doing something right? Would be nice to see them provide bus transport to other cities and call it a day!
No Churches within the city limits are on this committee?
I know where he can find some tenured professors with extra time on their hands.
Mississippi has the least homelessness in America, but if we start providing "resources" for the homeless they will show up in droves! Not smart! The resources should be limited to a trip to jail if you don't get the f*ck off the public street!! Time and time again Americans give money (thru charity or taxes) for homeless "resources" that are either abused or refused by the vagrants who are addicted to drugs. In Mississippi there is 0 reason to be homeless.
If the “task force” isn’t going full-Patrick Bateman on the homeless then it is a waste of time and money.
What do you do for the people who don't want to work? Asylums or ditches?
"help us design solutions rooted in dignity and opportunity.”
“Our goal is to help the city align resources, remove barriers, and strengthen partnerships that lead to permanent housing stability for Jackson residents.”
The same useless word salad spoken by any Democrat in any situation.
This is the same way the previous mayor solved(?) problems - form a committee, coalition, study, task force, etc., etc. How did that work out?
Obviously the people in the comments have never spoken to an unhoused person. Spend time getting to know them, then make an informed comment.
So Senator Mayor has assembled a group of people to increase homelessness in Jackson. This is one issue he is continuing the work of his predecessor.
Just buy one way tickets for the unhoused to Honolulu. The blue hair haoles won’t like it and neither will the locals but it’s the perfect weather for being unhoused and plenty of tourists to panhandle from.
Sounds like the latest grift... California 2.0. First confiscate money from the remaining producers in society, then spend their money to study how to better coddle self-destructive and anti-social behaviors of addicts and the mentally ill, then enact those programs and pay off all your buddies and special interests, then wonder why the problem keeps getting worse while the shrinking tax base flees the results, and our children are crushed by the debt to pay for it all.
It’s an industry. Lots of people become millionaires with their grant funded NGOs.
When is the group task with finding a new Chief of Police going to have a recommendation? Watching Tyree grandstand with the press at any available opportunity is getting old. Hire a spokesperson who can articulate what happened rather than watching Tyree attempt to sound intelligent by using big words that don’t fit together.
Is that the same as a blue ribbon committee?
What about a mental health task force? And a drug use task force? Can we just make a group in charge of everything so the mayor does tell have to do anything or carry any responsibility? If a group is in charge then no one person shoulders any responsibility….
I think that money could be better used to purchase one way non refundable bus tickets out of Jackson.
No, the blue ribbon committee is the advisory body on the formation and composition of task forces.
Horhn thinks all this task force crap gives him creds and political cover for his attempts to shake down the Legislature for money.
Any Jackson task force about the homeless that doesn't include Teresa Renkenberger shouldn't be taken seriously.
Everyone should read 3:48 about threes times. The No Experience Mayor has no idea how to lead. The city needs to get the off the street period.
"Any Jackson task force about the homeless that doesn't include Teresa Renkenberger shouldn't be taken seriously."
+100000000000%
There are two types of homeless people. Those that seek out the services provided by the state and get back on their feet fairly quickly and then there are those that only want to do drugs and will not go to those services because they can't do their drugs and be degenerates.
Wait till the task force finds out that many of these people don't want to be housed.
I wonder how many of the above commenters go to church on Sundays.
@3:48pm’s comment encapsulates Mississippi so well. Keep Mississippi shitty so no one, including the homeless, wants to move here.
Horhn goes about his job as the bureaucrat he is: spreading blame for his worthlessness. Any small town mayor would have done several things by now without study groups:
Closed the Monkey Moat Zoo that leaks water and $Ms;
Transferred the airport to regional authority;
1. Sold Thalia Mara Hall;
2. Sold the Convention Center;
3. Paid their water bill;
4. Instituted road blocks to confiscate stolen/illegal guns in Jackson Kill Zones;
5. Created more juvenile detention capacity...
How many task force does this make 🙄🙄🙄
Is the task force paid?
He did close the monkey exhibit and drained it without a study group. His CAO went out and looked at it, talked to the zoo people, moved the monkeys, and turned off the hydrant. He's not the one who let it leak for more than 8 years.
KF: In the process of draining the Monkey Moat, 12 more leaks were found. The Zoo leaks money and water and Horhn should realize what a waste it is, even if he didn't cause the degradation.
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