COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — The brother of a woman who died in a tent near Carter Lake wants her to be remembered for more than the way she died. Meanwhile, in Council Bluffs, the Homeless Outreach Program (HOP) visited encampments to ensure people living outside are safe during the extreme cold.
- “My sister was very bright. She was very, very smart,” said Dominik Stone from his home in Arizona.
- “The challenges are just going to continue to be some of the services available as far as mental health and substance abuse,” said Council Bluffs Police Sgt. Dan Stuck. “That’s pretty much the underlying issue that is common in all the camps.”
- The outreach program in Council Bluffs is an effort to reach neighbors before the worst happens. On Thursday, the team was making sure people did not have carbon monoxide poisoning from the heaters many have in their tents.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“My sister was very bright. She was very, very smart.”
Krysta Gallagher-McMillan died in a tent over the weekend and now her brother is speaking out about her struggles.
I’m Southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel.
I’m in Council Bluffs because here the homeless outreach program is trying to prevent that from happening to another neighbor.
Sgt. Dan Stuck brought me along as his team checked on people and pets living in tents and makeshift shelters near the river.
Stuck: “Keeping them in contact with the different case managers and workers...”
Police officers, firefighters, a nurse, and the first responder community health coach were making sure folks had adequate supplies and that fumes from heaters weren’t suffocating anyone.
Kevin lives in a tent with his wife. He showed me his ventilation system: “You see up here? I cut a water bottle...”
Stuck says since the homeless outreach program was started last spring, he’s seen progress.
“The challenges are just going to continue to be some of the services available as far as mental health and substance abuse,” said Stuck. “That’s pretty much the underlying issue that is common in all the camps.”
And that, believes Dominick Stone, was what caused his sister, Krysta, to leave a shelter and return to the camp.
“I wouldn’t put it past her. That she went there — from the shelter that she was at — for drugs,” he said.
The outreach program in Council Bluffs is an effort to reach neighbors before the worst happens.
Stuck: “Because we built a relationship with people in these communities they trust us...”
And while it might be too late for Krysta, Dominik wants the world to see her humanity: “She was very kind. We had our favorite songs that we would sing when the radio came on. We had toys...”
