A Niles City councilwoman said she is hopeful that Niles will get a department of human services office someday after a busload of concerned citizens rode into the state capitol last week.

“We are very hopefully after having a meeting that there will be some changes and that the people of Niles will experience better services than they are getting right now,” said Georgia Boggs, who represents the first ward on the Niles City Council.

Boggs was the organizer of a bus trip that visited Lansing Thursday for the purpose of letting legislators know that Niles residents want a DHS office in their city.

Currently, the closest DHS office is in Benton Harbor — some 28 miles away.

About 30 people made the trip to Lansing, which was paid for by sponsors Boggs said would like to remain anonymous.

Upon arriving in Lansing, Boggs said they met with members of Michigan’s Department of Human Services, including director Kurt Warner and Deputy Director of Field Operations Terrence Beurer.

Boggs said she and others who came expressed concerns about the DHS system in Berrien County, including issues with privacy, confidentiality and the difficulty people are having getting responses from DHS workers. They also reminded DHS officials of the staggering levels of poverty in the area and the hardship created when people who can’t afford to travel are asked to travel 30 minutes for basic services.

“The system needs fixing,” said Boggs, adding that someone brought up the idea of having a Niles DHS office open a couple days a week at the South County Courthouse.

However, Boggs said DHS officials would not say one way or another if a DHS office in Niles is a possibility.

Boggs said they were told budgetary constraints are the main reason there is not one right now.

“They said they were going to look into it, but we will keep pressuring them to see where they stand,” Boggs said. “I will be checking in by next week.”

Boggs said, based on what she has heard, the main thing people want is a place in Niles people can go to fill out forms, get assistance and ask questions from a live person — not a computer.

“I know they are moving toward computers, but not everyone is computer savvy,” she said.

Boggs thanked Rep. Dave Pagel for setting up the meeting with DHS in Lansing and thanked DHS officials for listening.

“We are very grateful they took time to hear our concerns,” she said.