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Thursday, April 16, 2015

Home Van Newsletter 4/16/15

 
            Service with Compassion
a Roundtable on Homelessness
 
with
Randy Stacey, Helping Hands Clinic
Arupa and Bob Freeman, HOME Van volunteers
Adam Gurske, Family Promise
 
Thursday, April 23
7-8:30 p.m.
Upper Hall
Holy Faith Catholic Church
(747 Northwest 43rd Street, Gainesville, FL 326070
(handicapped accessible)
 
Following up on the January roundtable with Jon Dicarmine from Grace Marketplace, the Open Table group will sponsor a discussion among four of Gainesville’s most prominent homeless service providers:  Randy Stacey, director of Helping Hands Clinic; Arupa and Bob Freeman, long time Home Van, now food pantry organizers; and Adam Gurske, chairman of the board of Family Promise (formerly Interfaith Hospitality).  Each will describe their mission and current projects and take questions from the audience.  Persons of all faiths who are concerned with the issue of homelessness and social justice are warmly invited to join the discussion.
 
For more information contact theopentablecommunity@gamil.com
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It’s good to be back.  I have been in recovery from my previous illusion that I was a really beat-up looking 35 year old.  I’m feeling much better now.  Our little food pantry is going well.  We’ve also been able to get a few starfish off the beach, including a young mother and a five-year-old who came to us on one rainy Friday.  They had an apartment as of Monday morning, but no shelter for the weekend.  We got them into a motel.  There will always be a need for small, nonbureaucratic missions like the Home Van, who are in a position to address situations like that.
 
I plan to start some kind of community project to inspire people to donate tents, but I’m not quite there yet.  In the meantime, tent donations are most welcome, as are donations of non-perishable foods.  Financial donations to the Home Van should be made out to Citizens for Social Justice and mailed to 307 SE 6th Street, Gainesville, FL  32601.  Donations can also be made through PayPal at our website:  http://homevan.blogspot.com/
 
love and peace to all of you,
 
arupa