BATON ROUGE — On Thursday at Hartley/Vey Park, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and the East Baton Rouge Parish Division of Human Development and Services unveiled new mobile units for the first time.

The department will bring services right to communities through these units parish-wide to provide on-site access to a range of resources and programs.

Services like assistance in paying rent or utilities, as well as Head Start registration, pro bono legal services and Employ BR assistance in finding and applying for jobs. Interpreters will also be available, as some locations where the units will be deployed have significant non-English populations.

“Human services centers are located in the heart of the city of Baton Rouge but we have parts of our parish where some citizens are unable to easily access services or who may not even know what services exist to help them,” Vernadine Mabry, director of the DHDS, said. “Now we can bring these services right to their neighborhoods.”

The units are equipped with generators, wif, and stations for case workers, as well as spaces that afford privacy for discussions of individual needs. The services on the vans can be customized with personnel able to address needs specific to certain areas.

“Their use will unlock real potential for improving public service here in the Gardere area and throughout East Baton Rouge Parish,” Broome said.

The mobile units will offer their first service visits in Baker and the Gardere, Broadmoor and Sherwood neighborhoods.