LEN RINGEL
Our friend and long-time volunteer Len Ringel passed away in a Hospice in
California on Sunday, October 19. He was in his eighties. Len was an artist
and a gardener and a man who loved ideas. He enjoyed challenging his friends
with concepts that were profound and well off the beaten path. He learned of
the Home Van when Sh’mal Ellenberg, our chaplain, gave a talk at the Unitarian
Church. Our Unitarian friends have given us many gifts over the years, but best
of all was our friend Len. He had a loving heart and, as a seasoned father and
grandfather, took a special interest in very young people in the homeless
community, doing a good bit of individual outreach. Len, we love you and we
miss you.
CHRISTMAS PLANS
We are doing Christmas differently this year. United Church of Gainesville
is donating 100 Christmas stockings to the Home Van, and three other groups in
the community have pledged another 125. With the number of people we serve
reduced by Grace Market Place, we have enough Christmas stockings and will not
be doing a stocking drive this year. Instead, we are encouraging the community
to do their Christmas outreach at Grace Market Place. I don’t yet know about
any specific plans for Christmas at Grace, or requests, but will pass this
information along to you as soon as I get it. In the meantime, there is no
reason that groups and individuals can’t initiate their own Christmas plans for
Grace, clearing them with John and Theresa as need be. It would be wonderful to
have the first Christmas at Grace and Dignity Village be very special.
HUNGER AWARENESS MONTH
November is National Hunger Awareness Month. The Alachua County
Commission for the Homeless and Hungry have requested that members of the
community write letters to the editor this month, elucidating their own
awareness and insights into hunger in our community, and any ideas about what we
as a community need to do about it. There is an excellent overview of this
problem in an article about Bread of the Mighty Food Bank in today’s Gainesville
Sun: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20141026/ARTICLES/141029776/1184?Title=Bread-of-the-Mighty-helps-provide-meals-for
MEET THE AUTHOR!
Marti Losten, long-time member of the homeless community, has written three
romance novels and published two of them! I am so proud of her – there are no
words to describe it. I’ve known Marti for 20 years. The old timers back in
Vermont used to say, of someone who had a long, hard struggle, “They’ve been
through hell and high water with their ears sticking out.” That would be a
fair description of what Marti has been through. Marti is one of those people
who never give up. Sustained by her profound faith that there is a loving God
who is always on her side, she has gotten up and climbed back on the horse no
matter how many times she was thrown off. Marti is both a resident and a
volunteer at Grace Market Place and you can catch up with her there if you
would like to buy a book from her. They are ten dollars a piece.
A STORY FROM DIGNITY VILLAGE
Last week I ran into my friend ‘Aaron’ and his wife at the Texaco. They
were both riding bikes with nifty little carts fastened to the back. Aaron told
me, smiling so widely his face was about to crack open, that he has built a
beautiful campsite with an actual wooden shelter made from scrounged materials.
He has also purchased a generator and now has a heater, an electric light, and a
little DVD player so they can play videos from the library. This is the magic of
having stability in one’s life. They can eat a nice dinner, go home to a warm
bed, and watch a movie. Such an evening, familiar to us, is really a miracle
straight from heaven, we just don’t often notice that the way the homeless folks
do.
GOOD NEWS FROM WILLISTON ROAD
Six people from the Williston Road community are in the process of moving
into housing. Two couples have found employment sufficient to rent an
apartment, and two are veterans who have been assisted through the HUD VASH
program. Williston Road, although it is not a legally designated camping place,
has been there long enough to become a relatively stable community with
excellent campsites, some self-governance, and supportive relationships with
members of the housed community. Thus, many of them are also on an ascending
octave.
MYLARS
It’s the time of year when we pass out many mylar blankets, so we welcome
these to be donated. A good online site for buying them:
Peace and blessings,
arupa
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Home Van needs tents, tarps, mylar emergency blankets, 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.
