People with court appearances at the Monroe County Hall of Justice are finding a helping hand is just outside the courtroom doors.
This isn’t necessarily legal help but rather referrals to services that can assist with child care, housing, mental health, employment, education, food access and utilities.
What's being called the Community Connection Desk launched in April, but was officially announced during a Thursday morning news conference and ceremonial ribbon cutting.
"I've often referred to this courthouse as the trauma center of society's ills," said state Supreme Court Justice Craig Doran.
"People that are not too far from where we're speaking right now are in the worst place they've been in a long time," he said. "Things are happening in their life that will disrupt their future, dramatically. They need help. And we need to meet them where they are, when they need the help. We can't be sending them across town because, frankly, they just won't get there."
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes teamed up with the 7th Judicial District to establish the helpdesk in a back corner just off the main lobby area at the downtown courthouse. A Goodwill employee or other service agency volunteers will staff the desk.
The courthouse program mirrors Neighborhood Navigation Centers in Goodwill's Greece, Webster and Canandaigua stores. Officials also pointed to a similar help desk of sorts during the pandemic that, working with 211/LIFE LINE, connected renters and landlords with assistance.
"Sometimes people may not be sure what exactly they need, and that's where our expertise comes in,” said Goodwill's Loni Wellman, who oversees the nonprofit's neighborhood centers and the one at the courthouse.
“We help them navigate through their challenges and identify the core issues at hand,” she said. “This collaboration among various organizations and volunteers is driven by a common goal of making resources more accessible to all members of our community.”
Community Foundation President and CEO Simeon Banister is credited with the idea for having a help desk at the courthouse. Banister was at the courthouse, waiting to meet a friend for lunch, and "watching and eavesdropping a little, and hearing what some of the people were saying,” he recalled in a statement announcing the program. “And it hit me … shouldn’t services and resources be available right here in the courthouse when people actually needed them?”
Banister later approached state Supreme Court Justice Craig Doran, and the help desk concept developed from there.
The courthouse help desk is staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, except for holidays when the courthouse is closed.
"After a stop at the desk, I can visibly see people's anxiety drop, I can see their faces change from fear to relief," said Goodwill's Roxanne Henry, who manages the desk. "And quite often, I get a smile. But I always get a thank you."
She continued: "There's so many resources in Rochester that people don't know about, that they're not aware of. All the information that we give out, none of it's new. It's just it's new to the people that I'm sharing it with, because they don't know about it."
