Gastonia, N.C. - July 15, 2022: The Gastonia Police Department is pleased to announce the hiring of Gayle Mahl as the Department's first Homeless Coordinator. The Homeless Coordinator provides support to individuals and families who are at imminent risk of homelessness. This position serves as a liaison for the Police Department to coordinate and strengthen partnerships between agencies and organizations that work on homelessness issues and/or provide direct services to the community.
Gayle Mahl has worked in the field of behavioral health care for over 40 years. She graduated college with her B.A. in Human Services from The New York State University at Utica/Rome. She moved from upstate New York to North Carolina in 1991. Mrs. Mahl resides in Mt. Holly with her husband and granddaughter.
Mrs. Mahl’s first position in Gaston County was with the Gaston/Lincoln Area Authority (now known as Partners Behavioral Health Care) as an intensive case manager for folks with developmental disabilities and mental health issues, specifically those discharged from Broughton Hospital. During her time there she also held positions such as Director of Developmental Disabilities Services, Director of Special Projects, Oversight of the Crisis/Detox unit, and mobile crisis. Upon her retirement from the state system, she went to work for Phoenix Counseling Center, an agency specializing in services to individuals experiencing mental health problems and/or addiction.
At Phoenix Counseling Center, Mrs. Mahl worked extensively with services providing mental health and substance abuse treatment to those in crisis. She was responsible for the oversight of two Crisis/Detox centers, the Mobile Crisis Team, The Phoenix Community Outreach Center (PCOC) (a day center for individuals and families experiencing homelessness on Airline Ave, and the Guardianship program.
To address our community members experiencing homelessness needs during the start of the COVID pandemic, Mrs. Mahl worked in partnership with the City of Gastonia and CoC planning group to reopen PCOC so as to allow individuals and families the ability to shower, get their laundry done, have COVID testing and receive a referral to Kintegra for follow up and guidance. She was also part of the team who developed the Critical Time Intervention Program, a service to assist those experiencing homelessness and suffering from mental health issues and addiction.
Mrs. Mahl has been the team lead for Gaston County’s Point in Time Count. The Point-In-Time Count helps our community plan services and programs to appropriately address local needs, measure progress in decreasing homelessness, and identify strengths and gaps in a community’s current homelessness assistance system. The Point-In-Time count is an unduplicated count on a single night of the people in a community who are experiencing homelessness that includes both sheltered and unsheltered populations. This activity is carried out through community volunteers, law enforcement, agencies serving individuals who are experiencing homelessness, and our faith community.
Chief Brittain had this to say about Gayle Mahl’s selection as the Gastonia Police Department’s first Homeless Coordinator:
“Mrs. Mahl brings with her over 40 years of knowledge and experience working in the homeless and addiction advocacy field. She is a welcome addition to the Gastonia Police Department and we know that she will be a great advocate and liaison for anyone who may be struggling with homelessness or addiction.”
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Gayle Mahl
