HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 11/15/15

A DAY OF GRACE

 

The Spirit of Grace Celebration out on 39th Avenue could not have been more beautiful and hopeful.  Grace continues to thrive.  The 131 Dining Hall is really, really nice - painted in bright, cheerful colors, commodious, and well-appointed.  Freeman slipped in and left the official Home Van soup pot, with two ladles, in the kitchen.  It is a five-gallon restaurant-grade pot that cost the proverbial 'arm and a leg,' and shows little if any wear after its 10 years of service with us.  It is good to think this pot will continue to bubble with good food for our homeless friends.  I was very pleased that Commissioner Randy
Wells won the Spirit of Grace Award.  Without his long and patient negotiations with the State, and other efforts he made, it is unlikely that Grace would be there, so the award could not have gone to a more deserving person.

 

At our end of town, the Home Van food pantry is serving a vital function for the homeless and marginally-housed people who remain in the downtown area, especially now that the Salvation Army has ceased providing an evening meal.  I have had many conversations with homeless people, encouraging them to move to Dignity Village and take advantage of the many services available at Grace - good food, clothing, medical care, job training, AA meetings etc. etc.  We have worked steadily to provide tents for people moving to Dignity.  I will not, however, participate in any strategy to starve people into submission to moving out there - not now, not ever.  As I have mentioned before, some of our customers do have a roof over their heads, but no money left to buy food.  Some cannot make that move to Dignity because of mental illness - they have to stay in their comfort zone and it would take one-on-one work with a social worker to change that.  And some are stubborn old geezers who just don't want to.  We will provide them with as much supplemental food as we can as long as they are down here.   And as long as you, our extended family, make it possible for us to do so.  Without your love and generosity we would not exist.

 

TALKING TO PEOPLE

 

It is a great luxury to be working for a small mission rather than an agency, because there is the time needed to talk to people. Our local agencies do so much for so many people.   I have sat behind the front counter of an agency and had to answer the phone 10 times an hour, with people standing in line in front of me for other services.  There is little if any time for long conversations.  When people call here I may or may not be able to give them what they need, but I can talk to them, and  help them process what they are going through and, sometimes, in the course of that conversation, we noodle our way through to a strategy that might actually work.  Last week I had a 20 minute conversation with a very young mother with a toddler and a newborn.  Her partner had split town leaving her with an unpaid and fairly sizeable GRU bill and her utilities were due to be cut off the next morning.  She had some hope that he might return the next day and pay GRU.  She says he has left before when the stress of babies and bills got to be too much for him, but has always come back.  But what if he doesn't?  What is she going to do?  In the course of our conversation my brain came up with a couple more places she might go to for assistance, and I also told her that, if all else failed, we could keep her supplied with candles and bottled water.  I think something worked out because I haven't heard from her again.  The great thing is that I could talk to her. She needed to talk.  A lot of people need, as much as anything else, someone to listen to them.  I'm so glad to be able to do that. 

 

Liz McCulloch, my co-conspirator at our food pantry, also spends time talking to customers.  She gives out meds, candles and other miscellaneous items while I pack bags, and often finds out that this person needs a pair of work shoes or a severely disabled person needs a tent.  Liz  uses her resources to meet special needs. 

 

Our special needs right now are Triple A batteries, small jars of peanut butter, and diabetic food such as Glucerna bars, Glucerna Shakes, and sugar and corn syrup-free canned meats. Fresh fruit is also something we could use more of, particularly oranges, and vitamins, including Vitamin C.

 

Love and peace to all of you,

 

arupa

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

e Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, Vienna sausages, food for people who don’t have kitchens

, candles and batteries. 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.