RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — Rapid City and the Pennington County Sheriff Department are partnering up to help people who are homeless.

The mayor and sheriff held a joint news conference on the topic Friday morning.

Helping those who need it the most is a goal of this meeting between the city and county.

“You want people to prosper, all people. But you can’t force them, you hope there’s an opportunity for them to take advantage of and sometimes they need a little help. That’s why we have mental health services, we have substance abuse services, which are a big part of our challenges,” Mayor Jason Salamun said.

Sheriff Brian Mueller and his deputies have seen an increase in younger people in these situations.

“We need to work together with these individuals to help work towards a positive change in their lives. But we’re definitely seeing an increase in younger people and an increase in people from other communities,” Pennington County Sheriff Brian Mueller said.

This joint resolution between the city and the county isn’t just to do a good deed; it is to help reduce the number of homeless in Rapid City and help those people get back on their feet.  

“What organizations and entities and efforts are having the greatest impact, and as a community if we were able to get behind some of those more focused. Get behind some of those and what impact could we have?” Salamun asked.

Recovery programs such as IGNITE have shown success and could be used as a positive example.

“So I think we owe it to do our part to help the people that want change. To change their trajectory and we’re making big strides in that with the IGNITE Program currently,” Mueller said.

Both sides in this joint resolution want to help those in need as best as they can.

Mayor Salamun will take his resolution to the Rapid City Council on Monday.