‘They restored my faith in humanity,' homeless woman praises Plano officers who went above and beyond

A Plano woman is praising local police officers for going above and beyond to help her get back on her feet.

Kimberly Briggs spent part of Monday sitting next to her 2001 Cadillac in the parking lot of an East Plano gym. The 64-year-old has been living in her car since January and jokingly called the spot underneath a tree her "living room."

At night, Briggs tries as best she can to stretch out across the front seats while continuously keeping an eye out for any danger. She keeps nonperishable items and a cooler in the backseat.

Briggs said she ended up homeless after selling her condo and running out of money. Briggs hasn’t been able to make ends meet with just her Social Security check.

“I couldn’t afford hotels anymore,” she said.

After hopping from one parking lot to a parking lot in East Plano, Briggs parked near the headquarters of the Plano Police Department.

Plano Neighborhood Police Unit officers Lance Buckley and Daniel Rogers approached the vehicle with caution.

“We realized she’s not suspicious, she’s just down on her luck,” said Rogers. “Very, very often we deal with homeless people, no matter what resources we put in front of them they don’t want help. They prefer to be homeless because they want to serve their addiction. Kimberly’s solution was a little different because right from the jump she was like: “I don’t want to be homeless. I’m trying to take steps to not be homeless, but I have all these roadblocks in the way.’”

Briggs did not have a valid Texas driver’s license or an identification card and always feared she would be stopped and get a ticket.

She couldn’t locate her birth certificate or her Social Security card, and her passport was either missing or expired. She could not access resources or even some hotels without proper identification or an address.

Over the next several weeks, Rogers and Buckley got to work giving Briggs rides and helping her dig through her packed storage unit in Plano. Their sergeant made calls to a local organization that provides help for people in need. The officers drove her there, got her accepted into a program, and got her a fixed address to use for her identification cards.

Briggs showed a pamphlet she received from local shelters.

“They didn’t just hand me a brochure,” she said of the officers. “They jumped in there and helped me. Who does that?”

The neighborhood police officers said they were just carrying out their unit’s mission.

“The unit is designed specifically to partner with the community and solve problems,” said Buckley. “This wasn’t a 911 call we responded to. It was: There’s something in this parking lot. Let’s see what we got and what we can do to solve it.”

Rogers said the department has seen an increase in the homeless population, something that is not unique to Plano. The goal, he said, is to approach those in need with resources but they have to want help.

“When you can help someone and it does help them progress further along, that’s huge for us and helps give us the drive to keep going,” said Rogers.

While she’s still living in her car, Briggs said she is one step closer to finding a permanent place to call home.

“They have helped me out so much and they didn’t have to, but they did,” she said. “These guys restored my faith in humanity.”