CHRISTMAS PARTY
I have received many emails from people who plan to come, bringing
stockings and sometimes treats as well. The homeless folks have been asking
about it, and are looking forward to it. It is wonderful that Gainesville has
taken total ownership of this annual event. If Freeman and I ran away to join
the carnival (unlikely), this party would go on and would be a terrific event.
See you there!
NATIONAL HOMELESS PEOPLE’S MEMORIAL DAY
December 21 is National Homeless People’s Memorial Day, when all the
homeless people who died on the streets or in the woods during the previous
year, are honored and remembered. We used to celebrate it in Gainesville, but
the last few years this event has fallen by the wayside. This year we are
bringing it back. In the last week, we lost three members of our homeless
community: Michael Johnson, Henry Lee Robinson, and Daniel Adkins. This year
we will have a service to honor these friends, as well as all the people lost
this year. December 21 was chosen by the National Homeless Coalition because it
is the longest, darkest night of the year. Usually this service has been held
downtown and only a few homeless people have attended. On such a long, dark,
and often very cold night, homeless people go to bed early to stay warm. So
this year we will have it on the grassy area on the edge of Tent City, where
Henry and Michael lived. This will make it easy for their friends to be there.
We will have a candlelight circle and hot chocolate and doughnuts afterwards.
When we have the details worked out, I will let everybody know, since all of you
are invited to join us.
THE MAGIC OF ONE-ON-ONE
When the Home Van was having major driveouts four or more times a month,
the numbers rose to the point where we were doing very little one-on-one
outreach except with a few people we knew from older and simpler times. It was
a big loss. Now we are rediscovering the magic of working with people one at a
time. It also opens up more volunteer opportunities. Even when all the regular
volunteer slots are filled, like the soup ladler and the candle-giver, people
can come along just to socialize with our folks. Simple friendship,
conversation, is valuable in itself, and also can lead to opportunities to
really help someone. Liz was speaking with a young woman who finally found a
job, after months of searching, but did not have a pair of black shoes, which
this job required. Liz got her a pair of shoes – simple problem, simple
solution. In the absence of one-on-one contact, people can spiral downward for
lack of a small piece of help at the right time.
One-on-one contacts occasionally help in a major way. A few weeks ago,
Ellen Allen, the Good Neighbor Society, who devotes herself to individual
outreach, discovered that “Cary,” an elderly homeless woman who had been
convalescing at a local medical facility, had apparently disappeared off the
face of the earth. The story of how we found Cary and what it took to get her
back, is long and complicated, so I will just hit the high points here. Cary
had been transferred to a group home in Ocala. Cary’s longtime partner and
best friend, “Mark” wanted to talk to her and maybe even go up and visit, so
various people tried to call Cary, but were given a runaround every time. I did
an Internet search on the facility where Cary was living, and discovered that
the owner/manager was up on charges for elder abuse, and had been in trouble
with the law and with DCF on and off since 2000. Her most recent arrest was
last July, with charges still pending. Ellen and I went up to Ocala to see
Cary and, if need be, bring her home, and discovered that the house at the
address of record, was empty. A neighbor told us that the Sheriff’s Department
closed the facility down due to severe problems. We called the phone number
again, first being disconnected and then being told that Cary had left two weeks
ago to stay with relatives in Orlando. Cary has no relatives in Orlando. After
a lot of help from a lot of people, including DCF, we got Cary back. She is
with Mark again and is doing fairly well. In this situation, a potential
tragedy was averted.
We are in the time of the midwinter Festivals of Light and Hope. May all
of you be blessed!
arupa
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The
Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, Vienna sausages, creamy peanut
butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks, batteries, and games. Call
352-372-4825 to arrange for drop off. Financial
donations to the Home Van should be in the form of checks made out to Citizens
for Social Justice, Inc., earmarked for the Home Van, and mailed to 307 SE 6th
Street, Gainesville, FL 32601, or can be made online at
http://homevan.blogspot.com/
THE HOMEVAN IS A PROJECT OF
CITIZENS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, INC. (FDACSREGISTRATION #CH35643). A COPY OF THE
OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE
DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE
(800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT,
APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE
STATE.
