THE NEW
HOMELESS SERVICES CENTER ON 39TH AVENUE
I have postponed
writing this newsletter until we could get some clarity on what is going to
happen after the May 1 opening of Grace Market Place (also called the
Empowerment Center) and what this is going to mean for the homeless people and
the grassroots providers. Yesterday the downtown meal providers met with
Theresa Lowe and Jon DeCarmine, who will be running the Center, and were given
the big picture. It is a fluid situation, with a lot of variables and some
unknowns at this point. I’m going to describe the upcoming plans as best I
can. Ultimately, the center will provide two meals a day for 200 or more
people, restrooms, showers, washers and dryers, and emergency shelter (in
barracks). Other plans include (but are not limited to) educational and job
opportunities, case management, church services, health care, camping spaces,
and long-term supportive housing. Right now, a good deal of work needs to go
into getting buildings and facilities renovated, finding additional funding
sources (grant writing, fund raising), and bringing in both volunteers and
employees, as the center is seriously under-funded and understaffed for all
that it needs to do. The city will be providing the center with 2000 one-year
bus passes to give to the homeless people.
Grassroots
providers, such as the Home Van, are invited to move our services out to the new
center. Most of us will not be moving out there immediately, because a lot of
our folks are going to still be homeless in the downtown area. We will be
serving our food where the people are, as we must, and will also be educating
them and informing them on the possibilities of the new center. We can do this
with a whole heart because I don’t think you could find two better people than
Theresa and Jon to manage this project. They know and understand the people
they will be serving, have vast experience in navigating the bureaucracy, and
are hard, hard workers.
There is a
certain urgency in this effort to talk to homeless people about the center and
encourage them to give it a try, since a mass eviction of Tent City is going to
happen in May. One and possibly both of the people who own the Tent City land
are planning to put their tracts up for sale. Gainesville police officers are
encouraging the displaced folks to move out to the wooded areas near the new
center. At this point, I’d like to thank the Gainesville Police Department, and
especially Lieutenant Brian Helmerson and the men and women under his command,
for all their help and kindness to the tent city residents and the folks who
sleep downtown. They are required to enforce the laws, some of which are not
fair to homeless people, and that can create a hostile duality between homeless
people and law enforcement. These officers have, through patience and many acts
of kindness, through taking responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of
homeless people in every way they possibly can, over come this barrier. They
are out in the woods and downtown talking to people, educating them, giving them
encouragement, seven days a week. Without their assistance this whole process
would be much more difficult.
I am looking
forward to the shelter aspect of this new center. Every week we come across
people who are trapped in grim, unbearable circumstances – Molly, an elderly
woman with severe arthritis who spent the winter living in an abandoned house;
Jake, a man in late middle age who is biking back and forth from his tent to
Shands to receive radiation and chemotherapy for his second bout of cancer;
Amy, a pregnant woman who has been sexually assaulted on the streets; Milton, a
young man in a wheelchair who is hooked up to various medical appliances. Ye
Gods and Little Fishes how long is this nightmare going to go on! I almost live
for the day we can find such a person and drive them up to the Grace Market
Place for a hot meal, a shower, clean clothes, and a warm, dry bed to sleep in.
The whole
Gainesville community needs to get behind this new center, participating in all
possible ways – volunteering, donating, organizing fund raisers, planting
gardens, painting murals, cooking, working one-on-one with
homeless folks, holding church services, bringing in recreational opportunities
– horseshoes, bingo, cards, books for the library – the possibilities are
endless. The Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry have a
website people can access to get updates and contact
information.
TENTS ‘n TARPS –
BOOKS ‘n BUG SPRAY – SOAP ‘n SHAMPOO
That’s what we
need. Summer is on the way and bug spray is more important to quality of life
than almost anything else. Many people spend the long, light summer evenings
reading. In the heat of summer, the call for personal hygiene products gets
pretty intense, and we are running low.
_______________________________________________
I will be
keeping this list updated on the progress and needs of Grace Market Place, as
they arise.
Blessings on all
of you!
arupa
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Home
Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, insect repellant, 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.
