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Local health navigator urges county to expand transitional housing after death of unhoused client
Summary
A Chestnut Health Systems community health navigator told the council that a 36‑year‑old unhoused man, Ben Allen, was struck and killed; she urged Jefferson County to treat transitional housing as a tool to provide stability and dignity and referenced a Festus City Council vote on transitional housing expected the same night.
Tara Lang, a community health navigator with Chestnut Health Systems, used the council’s public‑comment period to describe the death of a client, Ben Allen, who was struck and killed by a car near Highway 30 and PP. Lang said Allen had been unhoused, had connections with the Northwest Library and had begun discussing housing options but that limited availability led him to consider options outside Jefferson County.
Lang said the tragedy highlighted systemic barriers — including mental‑health challenges and lack of housing options — and called on Jefferson County to do more to provide transitional housing as a foundation for stability. She framed transitional housing as a pathway to dignity and a way to help individuals reconnect to community resources rather than as a complete solution to homelessness.
Lang said she and library staff attended Allen’s funeral and urged the council to remember the personal consequences of housing shortages. She also noted that the Festus City Council was voting on a transitional‑housing measure the same evening and said she was "anxiously awaiting" that local decision. Cindy Hayes, director of the Northwest Library, was cited by Lang as confirming the client’s identity to her.
What happens next: Lang left a newsletter with the council and asked members to consider transitional housing; no formal county action on the matter was taken at this meeting.
