NEWAYGO, Mich. — Erika Sovinski gets emotional whenever she speaks about her friend who has schizophrenia.
“He struggles with meeting his basic needs. Like, he hasn’t been, since COVID, he hasn’t been on his meds. He hasn’t washed his clothes. He hasn’t taken care of his apartment,” Sovinski said during an interview with FOX 17 in mid-March. “Like, we’ve given him pops and they don’t make it into the fridge.”
However, what makes her even more sad is when she recounts the journey it took her to get him help.
Sovinski owns the Sportsman Bar in Newaygo, and he lives in a building she owns. For years, she called around to different mental health services and agencies, seeking their help. However, she was repeatedly denied.
She reached out to his family, but was turned down.
Sovinski felt hopeless.
“It’s sad,” Sovinski said with tears in her eyes. “Especially that some people just don’t have anyone. And people who have their jobs like wouldn’t help.”
She took a long pause and grabbed some tissues.
“Sorry,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “I’m an emotional person. But yeah, so we’re really happy now.”
Sovinski said things started to turn around last year when she called Newaygo Police Chief Georgia Andres. She immediately introduced her to their new volunteer social worker, Nicole Klomp.
Klomp then met Sovinski’s friend and they clicked.
“Super amazing. Like, wonderful,” Sovinksi said as she continued to cry. “We’re really appreciative.”
There’s a new sheriff in town.
— Lauren Edwards (@LaurenEdwardsTV) March 28, 2023
Well police officer that is. Nicole Klomp is the new social worker at Newaygo PD. She was hired back in Oct. 2022 and has since responded to 200 calls.
Full story ➡️ @FOX17 pic.twitter.com/5mETzSgmIb
At the time, Klomp was volunteering at the department. However, in October 2022, she was hired full-time, responding to calls alongside police.
“It’s been a lot busier than what we’ve expected it to be,” Klomp said during an interview with FOX 17 in late February. “Then, I know we talked about having it being just a couple of calls and we had quite a few. Well, now we’ve actually had probably over 200 calls.”
She said some of them are follow-up calls or collateral contacts. Nevertheless, she’s been on her feet daily. The department believes Klomp may be the first full-time police social worker for a rural agency in the state.
“And police departments are calling us to ask, as one of the first, to our knowledge, rural social workers in the entire state, rural police social worker that is in the entire state, asking us how we did it,” Klomp said. “How did you do this? How did you get this started?”
Klomp said it began when she was working on her thesis project for her master’s degree at Ferris State University. She was simultaneously volunteering at the department, and it was there that she brought the idea and research of police social work to Chief Andres, who supported her work.
“Then we brought it to the attention of our vice president at Arbor Circle and she’s like 'You know, this is the kind of needed thing in our community,'” Klomp recalled. “'Let’s see how we can do this.' So, it’s kind of a pilot program for Arbor Circle too.”
They then applied for the Behavioral Health Grant with the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, and they got it.
In October, Klomp was brought on full time.
“It has been amazing what we’ve been able to do with that,” she said. “Being here full-time, being here to support the officers, to support the community. And just being able to have the funding necessary to get the safety equipment to be able to provide this service full-time has been really really awesome.”
Even though Klomp may be the first police social worker in a rural community, police departments throughout the state have brought on or created similar positions and units. She said there’s licensed personnel in Muskegon, Washtenaw, Lansing, Wayne County, and in the Flint/Saginaw area.
“One specifically is the Traverse City Police Department. They’ve actually reached out to us to help support them [and] grow their program,” Klomp said. “They’ve implemented their own police social worker as well.”
Klomp has also helped Fremont, Grant, and White Cloud police departments, riding along with them and making health plans for the people on scene, getting them connected to resources, and helping them navigate through insurance hurdles.
It’s what she does for all of her clients, she said.
Sovinski said she is forever grateful.
“A lot of people don’t know where to look or who to ask for for help,” Sovinski said. “And having Nicole has been amazing.”
