This past Sunday, my pastors and I were trying to ...

This past Sunday, my pastors and I were trying to help an elderly, homeless woman find shelter in or around Mesa. She had been on our campus off and on for 2 weeks and we were not finding any available shelter, plus we realized she had some mental health issues that needed professional support. We made a non-emergency call to Mesa PD at about 11 a.m. and an officer arrived shortly. Officer Lopez was the most patient and resourceful person. His kindness and persistence to get the appropriate help and assure this lady was not left victim to the heat or vulnerable one more night on the streets was amazing. He first brought in another member of the Police Force, Officer Wiener to give him support and possibly identify more resources. Together they quite literally worked magic to develop the solutuion. They were not going to be denied a solution for this helpless woman.

To make a long story short, with additional support from the Mesa Fire Department, and the Terros Crisis Team, together we were able to encourage the lady to accept some help and go to a temporary shelter where services were avaliable to help evaluate her needs both physically and mentally. I have to tell you, seeing all the various groups working collaboratively to find a solution was heart-warming and successful when this was not a text-book situation. It required lots of thinking out of the box and reaching out to numerous resources, even another Police Department in another county.

Thank you to Officer Lopez and Officer Wiener. You are the best and great representatives of the Mesa Police Department in our community. I am grateful to live in a community where officers of this quality, heart and care are responding to our needs.