MINNEAPOLIS — The uncomfortable truth about Minnesota's winters is that people want to be anywhere but outside.
It's why many of Twin Cities' homeless population can be seen riding Metro Transit buses and trains, as a place where they can sit down and be warm.
Sgt. Beverly Rodriguez of MTPD is on transit with them every day. Rodriguez leads the Homeless Action Team, comprised of three other officers besides her.
"I'll just wake folks up on the train just give them a little pat," Rodriguez explained. "And say, 'hey...' I just want to make sure they're not overdosing or anything like that. Then I direct them to the Hennepin county social workers."
On a November afternoon, Rodriguez caught the light rail train heading from the 46th and Minnehaha station to the Mall of America. Community partners from We Push For Peace rode along, as they too, plan to walk the trains to connect unhoused people to resources. They're one of several nonprofits contracted for Metro Transit's Transit Service Intervention Project.
"The homeless population in Minneapolis is growing, especially with colder weather. Sometimes they're not receptive to the uniform, even though they're trying to help and have different resource for them," Trent Pollard of We Push for Peace said.
Riding that fine line of trust is something Sgt. Rodriguez knows all too well. She knows the impact her uniform has on how people perceive her.
"I'll wake them up and say, 'Hey, I have social workers with me here, do you want to check out your benefits? Check into housing or shelter?'" she said. "A lot of times they'll say no, but as soon as I walk away, they'll go talk to [the social workers]. That's all I'm shooting for, as long as they will talk to them they don't need to talk to me."
Walking the trains, talking to folks in need is what the HAT team does many days. Sometimes, they also use their van to help folks move into permanent housing. Those are the days HAT officer Kat Kompelien said keep her going. She said it's nice to help a family move into a place they can finally stay for good.
When on the train, however, the HAT officers are both police and social worker, sometimes even with a social worker by them. On Wednesday, Sgt. Rodriguez ran into a man who was barely responsive on one of the train cars. She spoke in Spanish to him when he didn't seem to understand English.
"I'll just call an ambulance as soon as we get to Mall of America," Rodriguez said. She said she wanted to call an ambulance for the gentleman because she said often times unresponsive folks are targeted on trains. She explained that people take advantage of them, like stealing their belongings or going through pockets while they are either asleep our passed out.
"It's hard to play both roles [of police and social worker], but I think the folks that are on this unit definitely have a calling and they have a passion for the work that they do," Rodriguez said. "It doesn't take anybody to be a HAT officer. We have good folks on the unit that have been on for years."
"I think that you just have to have a lot of compassion, see past all the trauma," Officer Kompelien said. "And all these people are in survival mode, and you just have to make sure you're continuing to engage and let them know you're not here to judge but to help them out."
While the HAT team has been operating since 2018, needs continue to grow.
"We realize that we were becoming probably the most, the biggest shelter in the state of Minnesota for homelessness so the need was out there," Rodriguez said.
The team of four works with the hopes that a moment on transit could transition into something more permanent for many.
"We've been up and running since 2018, we've housed closed to 500 individuals since then, and that's including adults and children and families," Rodriguez said. "Our program has been very successful. We're actually waiting on more vouchers right now to get from our HRA department because we've utilized our whole voucher program for the year so we're waiting on more to house more folks qualify for the services."
To find out more information about We Push For Peace, you can find their website here.
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