(Omaha, NE) - The City of Omaha’s first Homeless Services Coordinator, a position dedicated to working with organizations that provide services and shelter to persons experiencing homelessness, will join Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert’s team in December.
Mayor Stothert's office says Tamara Dwyer will begin in the new role December 5. Dwyer is currently employed by the Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (MACCH). Her previous experience also includes Youth Emergency Services Street Outreach Specialist and supportive housing and shelter case management at Stephen Center.
“We have many excellent programs in Omaha that offer assistance and opportunities to help individuals and families. Tamara will coordinate access to services so more people are able to make a successful transition from homelessness to safe housing, employment, health care and other necessities,” said Mayor Stothert.
Stothert's office says Dwyer will work with service providers, MACCH and local, federal and state agencies to create a comprehensive strategy and implement policies and initiatives to end homelessness. She will identify grant and other funding to support prevention and outreach, and become a member of the City’s Homeless Task Force, which meets monthly. The task force includes representatives of City departments, the non-profit sector, and service providers.
“I am honored for this opportunity to work in Mayor Stothert’s office, addressing the issues of homelessness in our community. I plan to continue my work with the many amazing organizations and individuals in Omaha who work tirelessly to meet the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors and adding the many other important organizations and stakeholders who need their voices heard,” said Dwyer. “As a person who has experienced homelessness and housing insecurity at various times throughout my life, I am deeply committed to this work and understand the complexities that are involved. My goal is to bring Omaha together to help create strategies to end homelessness in our community.”
Dwyer has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Nebraska Omaha, she is a licensed Master Social Worker in Iowa and has a provisional mental health professional license and provisional certified master social worker from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
Mayor Stothert set aside funding for two years from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to create the Homeless Services Coordinator position. The annual salary is $90,000. The mayor's office says the position will be funded in later years from the General Fund budget. The Mayor’s Covid-19 Advisory Board, formed to develop a coordinated community response to the pandemic, recommended funding for homeless services as a priority.