tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57144426631259168112024-03-13T08:16:56.895-07:00Home VanArupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-36330374416760891512016-06-12T09:20:00.002-07:002016-06-12T09:20:41.644-07:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 6/12/16<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Dear friends,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Sorry for the long silence. I have been
dealing with boring, time-consuming, but very non-lethal medical stuff (just
part of being 70 I guess), as well as an unexpectedly enormous response to our
Food Pantry. I now </span><span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">have three volunteers
working with me, Liz, Marie, and Reggie, many thanks to all three of you - as
well as major assistance from Peggy toward the end of the month. She brings in,
among other things, her signature sandwich and cookies spread, which is
extremely popular. . I have no doubts that this service is needed. People walk
through 95 degree heat and through thunderstorms and then stand in line to
receive their bags of food, meds, and candles. This past Wednesday we had 115
participants. We totally feel like the Home Van again, except the people are
coming to us. Many of those who come are real heartbreakers - pregnant women,
elderly people, people in wheelchairs. As the old timers back in Vermont said
so often, "I don't know what this world is coming to." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Although we are a food pantry for homeless
people, we make a few exceptions, mainly for veterans. The VA social workers
have become aware of us and they send veterans, many of then newly housed and
getting back on their feet, to us for food. Also there are a few very old
people from my neighborhood who come here for food.</span> </div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Before I go any further, I would like to say
to my many friends in the LGBT community - my thoughts, my prayers, my love -
are with you. The massacre in Orlando beggars any words I can come up with
except these - we all need to become more loving people in any way we can. We
need to increase the amount of love and peace in the collective consciousness,
and we can only do it one person at a time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED
TO OUR <strong>GO FUND ME</strong> SITE! We now have $1035 in our account. Our
goal is two thousand dollars (40 tents). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">I do not know the person who was shot out at
the Sweetwater Branch community, at least by name. It bothers me that
perpetrators in the homeless community are identified, by the media, according
to their housing status, and I hope this practice will eventually be outlawed.
It reminds me of the 1950s and early 60s when only African American suspects
were identified by race. In other words, if two people, one white one black,
robbed banks, the subsequent headlines would read: "Man robs bank," and "Negro
man robs bank." It took legal action to stop this practice. Domestic violence
tragedies happen in all communities and neighborhoods, housed and un-housed, so
this sad news will not, I hope, lead to a call to evict the Sweetwater Branch
Tent Community. It is one of the oldest and most stable homeless neighborhoods
in the city. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">I am also very sad that Fredo's dog Cha Cha
was shot. She was a very sweet dog, and she was Fredo's family. I know that it
is very frightening and potentially dangerous to be charged by a strange dog,
but I have to wonder if pepper spray would not be a viable alternative. I had a
rescue dog, years ago, who turned out to have one major flaw: He was dedicated
to biting everyone except us. He got out once and the mailman pepper-sprayed
him and it worked very well.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Many thanks to all of you who are supporting
us with food and money and useful items like tents and candles. Blessings on
you. I am more than a day late and a dollar short in acknowledging all that you
do for us, but know that I thank God for you every day.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">peace,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">arupa</span></div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-9507521498571404612016-01-18T10:25:00.003-08:002016-01-18T10:25:49.870-08:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 1/18/16<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"> From
Martin Luther King, Jr.:</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;" title="http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/Everybody_can_be_great._Because_anybody_can_serve._You_don%27t_have_to_have_a_college_degree_to_serve./743/
CTRL + Click to follow link"><strong title=""><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">Everybody can be great. Because anybody can
serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make
your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and
Aristotle... (or) Einstein's Theory of Relativity ... (or) the Second Theory of
Thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul
generated by love.</span></strong></span></span></div>
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CTRL + Click to follow link"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">THE TIDES ARE RISING</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">When I down-sized the Home Van to a food pantry, I
imagined that I would be filling a small but needed niche in Gainesville's
services. I knew the old loners and curmurdgeons who had been my friends and
customers for years would not be moving to Grace. I knew there were a fair
number of people with mental illness who find it difficult if not impossible to
leave their comfort zone, and of course there would be some who, as the old
Vermonters would say, were just 'agin it.' These folks would need a small
service center. It was like that for the first few weeks. Since then the
number of people who come to us for help, and the range of things they need,
have continued to rise week by week. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">Some people tried out living at Dignity Village or
Grace and found out that they didn't like a living situation that involved rules
and supervision. It wasn't that they wanted to run wild and see how many
social norms they could shatter. It was more that it made them feel like
they'd moved back in with their parents, so they left. Others left because they
got into trouble - not big time, go to jail trouble, but enough trouble to be
restricted from Dignity and Grace for a certain amount of time. When services
were scattered about in the community, if you got into trouble at one agency,
you could go to another for help. With all the agencies concentrated in one
location behind a fence, you get restricted from everywhere - and that is a real
problem. For example, you get restricted for getting into a fist fight, a fist
fight that did not result in anyone needing medical attention. No one should be
handing out awards for getting into a fist fight, but a restriction should not
involve little or no access to food or blankets and such, in January. Theresa
and Jon are aware of this and it is one of the many things that have to be
worked out - how do you maintain order and at the same time avoid unjust levels
of hardship. It is not easy. Fortunately there are volunteers from the
community also working on this problem. Grace Marketplace and Dignity
Village are evolving projects that we can all support in one way or another
and they will only get better. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">So, as people drift back downtown, there are few
resources available to them down here, and my food pantry is one of them. I am
officially open on Wednesday afternoons, but reasonable people (e.g., those who
come by during the day time hours and ring the bell once or twice and leave if I
am not home or available (as opposed to those who ring the bell 47 times), can
come by if they need an aspirin or a mylar blanket. It still works but it is a
larger challenge than I had expected. Giving people tents so they can establish
campsites is ideal, and the city may need to give more support to such a plan
on this end of town. The Sweetwater Branch tent community has been a stable,
self-governed living area for many years, so it is a feasible idea. Hiring
social workers to work one-on-one with people in need of mental health care
would surely be not only a more compassionate strategy, but also a less
expensive strategy than hauling people off to jail or the ER on a regular
basis. When Howard Dean was governor of Vermont, he added up all the money
being spent on homeless services, jail time, and emergency medical care, and
then added up how much it would cost to give everyone a place to live. The
second plan - give everyone a place to live - was MUCH CHEAPER! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">To get back to my food pantry - food donations are
greatly needed! Almost everyone's favorite foods are Vienna sausages, Ramen
soup and peanut butter. Chef Boyardee and chunky soups are popular. With the
help of my friend Cheryl, and the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank, I always have a
lot of boiled eggs - people love getting them. I do need granola bars and
protein shakes. The granola bars, if possible, should be soft to chew. Over
the counter medications and batteries, especially double and triple A batteries,
are also needed. I do not need my mylar blankets - I have enough to last to
spring. I also have a lot of personal hygiene products and need only razors and
deodorant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">It is my sense that life has a kind of uncertain
quality to it these days - so much in flux, so many question marks. I wonder
how many people feel that way? The solution, I've discovered, is to life life
one day at a time. Despite being Irish, and being a poet, due to some genetic
miracle I'm not an alcoholic. Nevertheless, Bill W. and Dr. Bob are heros to me
- the idea of "one day at a time" is the answer to almost
everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">If you would like to make a financial donation to
the Home Van food bank, the check should be made out to Citizens for Social
Justice and mailed to 307 SE 6th Street, Gainesville, FL 32601. To arrange for
a drop-off of supplies call 352-372-4825. And, as the old timers know, I have
my take-in window.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">love and blessings to everyone,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;">arupa</span></div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-46071257220779801382015-12-19T11:35:00.003-08:002015-12-19T11:35:57.825-08:00HOLIDAY ANGELS DISGUISED AS HOMELESS STRANGERS<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">HOLIDAY ANGELS DISGUISED AS HOMELESS
STRANGERS....</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">I hadn't planned to write to you all again
before the holidays, but this story must be shared. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Yesterday I heard a gentle tapping on my
front door. I went to my take out window and there was an old black man
standing on my porch steps, someone I had never seen before. He needed some
food and cold weather gear, which I was fortunate to have. There was something
special about this old man - I had no idea what it was but I could sense it
strongly. He told me he was a Vietnam vet who had run into some trouble down at
the Lake City VA and came here hoping for better luck. I gave him Bridget
Fitzgerald's card, telling him that she is not a bureaucrat and has worked her
way through bigger kerfluffles than his to get vets into housing. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Then, at some point, he told me that he had
been a blues musician most of his life. He began talking about the gigs he'd
played and he lit up with with such joy and such amazing descriptions of the
concerts, the music, the instruments, the riffs... I literally felt like I was
listening to someone who had walked out of history, like Blind Lemon or Muddy
Waters. Then I remembered that more than ten years ago I found a really nice
harmonica in a box of donations and put it aside, thinking that someone would
come along who wanted it. I told him to wait a minute, I had something he
might want. I showed him that harmonica. I don't think I have ever seen a
bigger smile or more joyful eyes on a human face than his when he reached
through and took that harmonica! It was really something. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;"> I hope I see him again sometime, maybe in a
concert.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Happy happy to one and all!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">arupa</span></div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-11591552876703387252015-11-15T09:38:00.000-08:002015-11-15T09:38:03.713-08:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 11/15/15<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">A DAY OF GRACE</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">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 <br />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.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">TALKING TO PEOPLE</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">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.
</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Love and peace to all of you,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">arupa</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">e Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, Vienna
sausages, food for people who don’t have
kitchens</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">, candles and batteries. Call
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;" title="https://www.blogger.com/null
CTRL + Click to follow link">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></a></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES
NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-39619795287721351412015-10-04T10:22:00.001-07:002015-10-04T10:22:39.027-07:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 10/4/15<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">The Home Van Food Pantry is doing a very
large business as things continue to go badly, both in terms of the economy and
the access to food in the downtown area. The Salvation Army has stopped serving
dinner except on Fridays and is planning to drop meal services all together at
the end of the year. There are also people coming down from Dignity Village to
receive food, since the kitchen at Grace is not yet operational. Although we
are a food pantry for homeless people, some elderly people who have (thank God)
a roof over their heads but not much else, are also coming to receive food. We
do not discriminate. Some people would like to be going to Grace for meals but
they've lost their bus pass (as you may recall, the city gave out permanent bus
passes to homeless people earlier this year). They have been told that bus
passes can't be replaced. It is hard to keep track of one's belongings living
of the streets (it's hard enough living inside, as I've discovered), and one's
belongings are much more likely to be stolen if you're homeless. There is also
the photo ID problem. If you lose your photo ID you cannot get service at a
food pantry or many other places. That is bureaucratic cruelty. Under the
Patriot Act photo IDs are very hard to get and even harder to replace. Is our
society really going to let people starve because they don't have the right
pieces of paper? Sounds to me like something out of Germany in the early 30s.
My Jewish friends often say that we must never forget history, particularly that
history, because, among other things, it teaches the lesson that good people can
be lulled, one step at a time, into unspeakable evil. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">We might need some civil disobedience. I am
dealing with an extremely boring but non-threatening ailment called Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome, so I can't organize civil disobedience events or rallies at
this time. Maybe someone else could take this on. "HEY HEY BUREAUCRATS, HOW
MANY PEOPLE WILL YOU STARVE TODAY". Well, surely one of you can come up with
something better than that.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">In case anyone is wondering, yes, I am angry
about all this.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Some of you may be wondering why we still
have homeless people downtown. There is the bus pass problem, the problem of
people with mental illness who are afraid or unwilling to go outside their
comfort zone, the old hermits who just don't want to, and others who for various
reasons don't want to be way out on the edge of town. I think Grace Market
Place and Dignity Village are evolving into good places that will solve the
problem of homelessness for many people, but in the meantime, everybody has to
eat today and tomorrow and all the other days of the week.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">In the meantime, I also have a lot of
gratitude for the support so many of you are giving to to our little food
pantry. There are even elves who drop food through the hole in the screen and
disappear!</span> </div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">At this time, we are particularly in need of
donations of small jars of creamy peanut butter. Chunky soups, canned meats,
beenie</span><span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;"> weenies and anything Chef Boy Ardee
are also much appreciated.</span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">love and peace to all of you!</span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, Vienna
sausages, food for people who don’t have
kitchens</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">, candles and batteries. Call
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;" title="https://www.blogger.com/null
CTRL + Click to follow link">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></a></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES
NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-91961373251212404652015-08-16T08:26:00.003-07:002015-08-16T08:26:58.049-07:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 8/16/15<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">The Home Van food pantry got off to a bumpy
start because I was very low energy, and a lot of other things were going on,
but we are now finding our stride, due in no small part to the fact
that</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Liz McCulloch is now working the Wednesday
afternoon food pantry with me. Liz brings a lot of expertise and good energy to
any project she is involved in. She deals with over-the-counter medications,
candles, cold drinks and, of course, talking to people. In any form of
outreach, talking to people is an important part of it. You make friends with
your customers and have a chance to be involved in their lives in a positive
way, as you discover small needs - huge and unobtainable to them - that you can
fulfill. I pack the bags. I know the customers - who's diabetic, who's
recovering from surgery, food allergies - that sort of thing. Of course Liz is
learning all that as well, so our roles are not cast in concrete.</span></div>
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</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">A lot of our old guys love, love, love
Vienna sausages - the more little cans you give them, the happier they are, and
they do at least have protein. So we will always feature God's lowly Vienna
sausage at the Home Van. However, I am finding great joy in trying to give out
the best possible food we can - both in terms of nutrition and appeal, with the
help of the food bank and our donators. Almost every week we have fresh fruit,
whole grain breads, cheese, chunky soups loaded with vegetables, Chef Boy Ardee,
sardines (a healthy fish since they are small and contain little if any
mercury), and protein shakes. Lately we have been very low on peanut butter, so
peanut butter (small jars, smooth not chunky) will be greatly appreciated. We
can also use more diabetic foods. </span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">Our other major needs are for batteries
(double and triple A's and D's), and bug spray. We hardly ever get donations of
bug spray, due to the expense involved. I understand that. On the other hand,
mosquitos are driving people stark, raving mad. The first two people to bring
me an entire box of bug spray will receive in return a painting by
me. </span></div>
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</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">To arrange to drop off donations call me at
352-372-4825. Financial donations should be made out to Citizens for Social
Justice and mailed to 307 SE 6th St., G'ville 32601. Online donations can be
made by going to: <a href="http://homevan.blogspot.com/" title="http://homevan.blogspot.com/
CTRL + Click to follow link">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">love and peace to everyone,</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #690800; font-family: Arial;">arupa</span></div>
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</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-46624219319925584002015-06-05T09:29:00.003-07:002015-06-05T09:29:33.784-07:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 6/5/15<div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;">
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Dear Home Van friends,</div>
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<div>
I’m sorry to be so long in thanking you for the amazing outpouring of food
and money for food when I requested help. ( My pilot light has been a little low
since we ended the driveouts, but I’m on the mend.) We have been able to feed
everyone who has come to us. The uptick in business at Bread of the Mighty Food
Bank seems to be a permanent situation. More and more people are in need of
food assistance over the five-county area Bread of the Mighty serves, so your
help makes all the difference.</div>
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</div>
<div>
The major surprise for me, when it comes to our food pantry, is that I am
now meeting homeless children, very young homeless children. We hear about them
every year in the Point-in-Time Survey. Roughly 600 children in Alachua County
are homeless. But I rarely met these children when we were driving out. One
young single mother, B, became homeless with a four-year-old, after a horrific
and totally unexpected family tragedy. She came to Gainesville because she
believed there was a person living here who would help her get back on her
feet. That turned out to be untrue and she found herself on the streets, for
the first time in her life. B is one of the most centered and courageous young
women I’ve ever known. She went to agencies and missions all over Gainesville,
barking up every tree she could find. When I met her she had lined up
subsidized housing, subsidized daycare, and 15 job interviews. I met her on a
Friday afternoon. Her housing was going to become available on Monday, but in
the meantime she was facing a rainy, stormy weekend with nowhere to go. She
went to a shelter and whoever she spoke with – staff member? volunteer? I have
no idea. In any case, this person told her that there was no bed available for
her and that if she ever came back with her child, they would be obligated to
call DCF and have her child taken. Fortunately, some of our homeless friends
overheard this conversation and gave her my name and address. We put her up in
a motel for the weekend with a bag of kid-friendly groceries. She came back
last week to tell me that she now has a job and things are going well.</div>
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</div>
<div>
Another young family, parents and a very young toddler, were actually
living in a tent when they came here for food. Nevertheless, their child was
clean, well-dressed, healthy-looking and had a smile on his face. With some
help from us, they are moving into what I would term “marginal housing.” It is
not ideal, but a step up from a tent and they and their baby will be safe and
dry. One of the parents is working fulltime at a fast food restaurant and they
are saving every penny they can to get for real housing soon. The third young
family had a very small baby with them. Fortunately, this baby stays with
relatives at night and is with them during the day. They want a tent for
themselves, to camp near where their baby is living, and have a place to keep
their belongings and prepare for job interviews. It is hard to get a job when
you are living in a tent, and basically impossible when you are roaming the
streets. All these young families impressed me with their courage. Thank God
for cell phones. I had each of them put our number into their cells. I told
them to call me when they need to, and assured them they can get food from us
whenever they need it, not just on Wednesdays or Thursdays.</div>
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</div>
<div>
The other major group who comes here is very old men. Most of them are the
old hermits and mavericks who have always come here for services. I talk to
them about Dignity Village but they’re just not interested. Some of them have
been out in the woods since Vietnam and expect to live out their lives in the
woods by themselves. They are a remarkably cheerful lot and always say God
Bless You!</div>
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<div>
I am hearing about Iraq veterans. I had a long conversation yesterday with
a young man who is not a veteran himself but says that most of his friends in
the homeless community are. He tells me that they are in very bad shape,
psychologically, and he is doing what he can to help them. I haven’t seen the
VA social workers lately, but so far as I know they are still out there rounding
people up for the HUD VASH program. But there are always more.</div>
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Peace and love to everyone,</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa </div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled
water, Vienna sausages, food for people who don’t have
kitchens</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">, candles and batteries. Call
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></a></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE
STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY
THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-27035529693674928752015-04-16T10:56:00.002-07:002015-04-16T10:56:43.443-07:00Home Van Newsletter 4/16/15
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<div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;">
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> <strong>Service with
Compassion</strong></span></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">a Roundtable on
Homelessness</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong></strong> </div>
<div align="center">
with</div>
<div align="center">
Randy Stacey, Helping Hands Clinic</div>
<div align="center">
Arupa and Bob Freeman, HOME Van volunteers</div>
<div align="center">
Adam Gurske, Family Promise</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
<strong>Thursday, April 23</strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong>7-8:30 p.m.</strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong>Upper Hall</strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong>Holy Faith Catholic Church</strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong>(747 Northwest 43rd Street, Gainesville, FL
326070</strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong>(handicapped accessible)</strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong></strong> </div>
<div align="left">
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.</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
For more information contact <a href="mailto:theopentablecommunity@gamil.com">theopentablecommunity@gamil.com</a></div>
<div align="left">
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
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.</div>
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</div>
<div align="left">
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: <a href="http://homevan.blogspot.com/" title="http://homevan.blogspot.com/">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</a></div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
love and peace to all of you,</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
arupa</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-16048638664287048522015-02-13T10:54:00.000-08:002015-02-13T10:54:09.293-08:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 2/13/15: SPECIAL EDITION<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">Dear friends,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">Below you will find a personal letter from me to the
homeless community that I passed out on last night’s driveout. I know some of
you work with homeless people, so I encourage you to print out the letter and
share it with your homeless friends and clients, since we never see everybody on
any one driveout. In March I will be reviving the Home Van Newsletter and
telling you more about what we are doing and how people can participate. In the
meantime, I want all our homeless friends to know that we are still going to be
here for them, except in a different way, and I want them to know how much they
have meant to me and how much they have given me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">Dear friends of the homeless community,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
of March 1, when the Bo Diddley Community Plaza is shut down for remodeling, the
Home Van is going to change from doing driveouts to being a food pantry for
homeless people only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our food pantry
will be open every Wednesday afternoon from 1-5 and every Thursday from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m., except for the first week of the month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even on five Thursday months, we will be open
the 2<sup>nd</sup>, 3<sup>rd</sup>, 4<sup>th</sup> and 5<sup>th</sup> Thursday
of each week and on the preceding Wednesday afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">house is at 307 SE 6<sup>th</sup> Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of you have been there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of you also have my phone number, in
case of emergencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
352-372-4825.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we will </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">continue to be here for you, except in a different
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">The money we save by ending the driveouts we are going
to put into getting tents and tarps so people can move out to Dignity
Village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know some of you have
beautiful, well-established campsites and are under no threat of eviction at
this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will most likely choose
to stay where you are and pick up supplies at our food pantry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those of you who stay in the downtown area
may be facing very hard times with the closing of the plaza and perhaps even
more efforts on the part of the authorities to remove homeless people from the
downtown area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am convinced that you
will be much better off at Dignity Village, where you will be within easy
walking distance of hot meals, water, showers, laundry facilities, and other
services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dignity Village is not perfect
but some very good people are working hard to make it into a good place with
self-governance and safety from eviction and other threats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can help make that happen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">We are going to miss doing these driveouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will admit to you, my dear friends, that
some of this is old age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am fast
approaching 70 and have been doing these driveouts for almost 13 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m tired and need to take life easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I also think that supporting Dignity
Village is the right thing to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank all of
you for all you have done for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
have done more for me than I have done for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am not the same person I was when I started doing these driveouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have learned more about love, courage,
compassion, patience and faith from you in these 13 years than in the whole rest
of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning, I was
mainly concerned with myself, and was even someone who would complain about
having to do housework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know
that God had blessed me beyond measure with a house to live in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned that, and so much more, from you,
my dear and wonderful friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">love,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="line-height: 14pt;">arupa</span></div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-64391387443427231872014-12-13T11:56:00.001-08:002014-12-13T11:56:16.149-08:00GREETINGS FROM THE HOME VAN<div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seasonal
Pome</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Peace, may we have peace,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Republicans, Democrats,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Black, white, Chinese,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Vegans, locivores,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">folks selling barbecue</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">From backs of trucks on country roads.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">May we have compassion,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">For doctors and dentists and hookers,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">And chief financial officers,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">For gated communities and homeless shelters,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">For law enforcement officers, for thieves,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">For all who breathe the free air around us,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">For all who feel the sun and rain on their weary
backs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">May there be candles,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Menorah candles,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Kwanza candles,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Christmas candles,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Candles adding their soft light</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">To the gentle beams of the Solstice moon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">May there be light,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">May there be peace,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">May we love one another.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
-arupa</div>
</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-87513952592197384922014-10-26T08:14:00.001-07:002014-10-26T08:14:14.281-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 10/26/14<div>
LEN RINGEL</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
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.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
CHRISTMAS PLANS</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
HUNGER AWARENESS MONTH</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
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: <a href="http://www.gainesville.com/article/20141026/ARTICLES/141029776/1184?Title=Bread-of-the-Mighty-helps-provide-meals-for" title="http://www.gainesville.com/article/20141026/ARTICLES/141029776/1184?Title=Bread-of-the-Mighty-helps-provide-meals-for">http://www.gainesville.com/article/20141026/ARTICLES/141029776/1184?Title=Bread-of-the-Mighty-helps-provide-meals-for</a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
MEET THE AUTHOR!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
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.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
A STORY FROM DIGNITY VILLAGE</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
GOOD NEWS FROM WILLISTON ROAD</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
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.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
MYLARS</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
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: </div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.mcrmedical.com/category/first-aid-training-emergency-blankets-bags.html" style="href: "http://www.mcrmedical.com/category/first-aid-training-emergency-blankets-bags.html";" title="http://www.mcrmedical.com/category/first-aid-training-emergency-blankets-bags.html">http://www.mcrmedical.com/category/first-aid-training-emergency-blankets-bags.html</a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Peace and blessings,</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa</div>
<div>
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div>
<div style="-ms-word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 19.2pt;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
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<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">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
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="display: inline;">
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<span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span><span></span> </div>
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<div style="-ms-word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 19.2pt;">
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<span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" rel="nofollow"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE
STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY
THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-43560440016206803972014-09-15T09:48:00.003-07:002014-09-15T09:48:39.639-07:00HOME VAN NEWSLETTER 9/15/14<div>
SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO WRITE ON A MOVING PLANET</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
That’s an old saying from the 1960s. It has been that kind of a late
summer/early fall at Home Van Central. But now I’M BACK! and glad to be </div>
<div>
speaking with you all again.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
UPDATE ON GRACE MARKET PLACE</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Grace Market Place is continuing to face challenges. This project was
woefully underfunded by both the City and County commissions. They have had to
close down the Pavilion, where many people slept, and the chapel, in order to
save on their utility bill. They can’t afford to hire needed staff members.
Joe Jackson is working with the city on a new contract with the Homeless
Coalition that will hopefully address some of these issues. In the meantime,
community support is very, very, important. Donate to Grace Market Place.
Volunteer there if you can. Do not be complacent that this facility is up and
running so our homeless community no longer needs your help. If we all pull
together, we will get there, but it’s going to be a long pull.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
When Grace Market Place opened, Freeman and I were still not clear what our
role would be or if we would want to continue offering services on Williston
Road and downtown. We decided to wait and see how things evolved. Now it is
clear that there is still a need for services at this end of town and will
continue to be until Grace is better funded and does some growing, so we are
going to continue as we have. We are the ‘go to’ people for tents for those
moving out to Grace. Many thanks to all of you who have donated tents or money
to buy tents. It is an ongoing need so one way to help Grace is to give us
money for tents, especially now that the Pavilion is closing. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
DIGNITY VILLAGE</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Joe Jackson reports that the threat of further evictions of people camping
outside the gates of Grace (now doesn’t that sound like a country western hymn
somebody needs to write – “I’m a campin’ outside the gates of Grace...”) has
been averted! People are diligently establishing a tent city that they have
named Dignity Village, after the tent community on the west coast that has
become a model of self-governance and upward mobility for homeless people
everywhere. I encourage you to Google Dignity Village and learn more. There
are weekly meetings, also attended by Occupy folks and other grassroots
activists, where rules and goals are being established. People beset by
addictions are camping together, in a designated area. As Grace evolves, there
will be more hope and help for them. In the meantime, I think it would be a
good idea if there were 12 Step Meetings out at Dignity Village. The idea of
bringing meetings to people has fallen out of favor in AA – or so I am told –
but it is something that was done by Bill W and Dr. Bob and I think for this
special population it would make sense. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
BUG SPRAY AND PERSONAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
These are our two greatest needs. The many rains have caused an explosion
of mosquitos out in the woods. We’re about out of soap and shampoo also.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
KIRK STENDER</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
On August 12 Kirk Stender, a gentle, wonderful man who was homeless in a
wheelchair for at least four or five years, left this world. We were very fond
of Kirk.</div>
<div>
We hope to plant a tree in his name out at Grace Market Place. Grace needs
trees so maybe other people can plant trees there, for homeless or housed
friends who have moved on. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Peace and blessings to all of you,</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-69730518103409139142014-08-09T09:18:00.002-07:002014-08-09T09:18:05.738-07:00UPDATE ON THE 39TH AVENUE SITUATION<div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
Hi Folks,</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I hoped to have more definitive, and maybe even more positive, information
before updating you, but that has not happened. First of all, the trespass
warning/eviction notices to the campers along the west side of 39th Avenue were
instigated and delivered by employees of Taccachale. The Alachua County
Sheriff’s Department had nothing to do with it, nor did any other local law
enforcement people. The homeless campers were quite convinced that they had
been served by deputies. Perhaps Taccachale employees wear green uniforms. I
don’t think any of us realized that private citizens can carry out trespass
warnings and evictions. Live and learn. Since this event an attempt has been
made to convince Taccachale to reverse their position, but they are adamant.
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Also, another group of campers had to move their tents at the request of
the administration of the Work Release Program that is located near Grace. This
was not carried out as a formal eviction process. Rather, Jon Decarmine helped
people relocate. There is now a shortage of wooded areas for people to camp,
and people cannot camp under the blazing sun with no shade and no privacy. That
would be hazardous to their health both physical and mental. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
So, our Brave New World has been NIMBYED. The City of Gainesville is going
to have to arrange to buy or lease some wooded areas where people can camp.
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I am so sorry not to have better news to share with you.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-11770740852953738422014-08-01T10:24:00.002-07:002014-08-01T10:24:03.480-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL August 1, 2014<div>
JULY WAS THE CRUELEST MONTH</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
This is going to be a tough newsletter to write, but enough time has passed
that I must let our extended Home Van family know what’s been going on. </div>
<div>
July started out on a high note. The residents of Tent City had been
successfully moved, with the help of Occupy Gainesville, Home Van volunteers,
and other groups and individuals in the community – a few to the Williston Road
Community but many out to the woods near Grace Market Place. The Home Van’s
tent drive was going well and we were working with the people who had been
living for so long in and around the Bo Diddley Plaza – telling them that now
there was a safe harbor – a place where they could establish camp sites and be
within an easy walk of water, food, and many other amenities. The people who
were already living near Grace Market Place were coming back with glowing
reports - of delicious food cooked by church women, an air conditioned room
where they could get respite from the heat and watch a movie on a large-screen
TV (some of them had not seen a movie in years), volunteer opportunities, church
services in the chapel on Sunday. Every Thursday we would find fewer people
living on the pavement downtown.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We were completely confident in our belief that the woods around Grace,
which are owned by the State, would be a safe haven for our homeless friends.
Since the beginning of the meetings to develop Grace Market Place, we had been
told that these woods would be a place where homeless people could camp. We
were encouraged to help people move out there. There was not the slightest hint
of NIMBY protests throughout the process of developing Grace and moving people
to the nearby woods. The fact that the woods were owned by the state – well,
hey – no local NIMBYS to fear. Freeman and I were clapping each other on the
back – we had stayed the course throughout long, tough years – and now our
homeless friends were finally safe.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
On the morning of Friday, July 25, my phone started ringing – hysterical
phone calls from homeless people living in the woods to the west of Grace.
Sheriffs’ deputies had come around at 7 a.m., posted the area with NO TRESPASS
signs, and walked from tent to tent telling people they had to leave within
seven days or be arrested. We drove out there. Our friends were walking up and
down the road looking numb and stunned, like accident victims, the walking
wounded, unable to take in what had just happened. We found out that this
eviction took place at the request of Taccachale.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I have rewritten this newsletter in my head several times – the first five
or six mental drafts being full of hysterical verbiage, some not appropriate for
a family newsletter. I don’t know what to make of the ruling forces within our
government and community who did not MAKE SURE that this was going to be a safe
haven. What were they thinking? Was it, “Have them move out there and hope
nobody minds?” </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
WHAT NOW?</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I don’t know. There is a small wooded area to the south of Grace that is
owned by the city. This area is filled to capacity with as many camp sites as
possible. The pavilion within Grace is also full of people. All other areas
out there are owned by the state, and could be posted with eviction notices as
well. Some people are moving back downtown and a few have gone out to the
freeway to hitchhike somewhere else. Grace Market Place is a wonderful
facility, with great potential. If the city of Gainesville wants it to be a
success – they need to find a place where homeless people can live while they
avail themselves of the health care, job training and other services that are
going to be available there. Otherwise they will be, in the famous words of
Robert Kennedy, “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In the meantime, we continue supporting Grace Market Place and wait for
further developments. There are people looking into what to do about the
situation, and I will keep all of you in the loop.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
DONATIONS</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I am encouraging people who have large donations to bring them to Grace
Market Place. We are still accepting small donations of the things we
particularly need, as noted in the footer below. One of our greatest needs is
for bottled water. We are still taking care of the folks in the Williston Road
Community as well as people who camp in isolated sites. The url that takes
people to our web site works on some computers and does not work on others. I
don’t know what to do about it, and I am sorry for the inconvenience. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Hang in there – as the wonderul Annette of Occupy says – PEACE AND CARROTS
TO ALL!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa</div>
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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
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-67543431020842107162014-07-13T08:19:00.001-07:002014-07-13T08:19:33.470-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL: SPECIAL EDITION<div>
This month’s Home Van Journal has a guest writer: Tony Robinson, who was,
until recently, a resident of Tent City. Tony is now living in the vicinity of
Grace Market Place.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div align="center">
<strong>Captains and Kings and the Common Man</strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong></strong> </div>
<div align="left">
First of all, I give all praise to an all knowing, all powerful
God. Second, I would like to thank the Gainesville community and its civic
leaders for their efforts, time and monetary commitments to a place for those
like me who at this time are less fortunate and struggling to live life in these
trying times. I don’t know why we are all at this place and in these
conditions. I don’t believe that 20, 10, or 5 years ago any one of us sat
around and planned to be homeless, addicted, or physically or mentally ill. But
I do know that it is a fact that we are all here. I have experienced many
trying times as a homeless person, but also many good times and experienced a
freedom like no other time in my life. I looked at pictures of the One Stop
Center with all its tall fences and guard post. My first impression was, no I
am not going in there. But I challenge myself and you to try to imagine and
view the One Stop as exactly what it is named – the One Stop, and allow this
place to be just that – one stop in our lives. A place of help, hope and rest.
Let the One Stop be a place of growth, mentally, physically and spiritually
where we are all given a chance to be the best we can be. A place where we can
go not for pity, but a place for the betterment of ourselves, our community, our
state, nation and world. A place where we can become strong enough to advocate
for peace and for those less fortunate than ourselves. A place not of labels,
but a place for one human family.</div>
<div align="left">
-<strong>Tony Robinson</strong></div>
<div align="left">
<strong></strong> </div>
<div align="left">
I want to thank all of you who came out and helped with moving
people out of Tent City. Many thanks also to Occupy Gainesville and Ellen Allen
of the Good Neighbor Society, who helped people move, and to Elizabeth Howard
who walked Tent City making sure that no animals were left behind. Uncle
Vinnie, a tent city resident, walked the woods near Grace Market Place scouting
out campsites. After people moved he combed the grounds of Tent City gathering
up items of value, like tarps and cooking pans, to distribute to the new
campsites near Grace. GPD paved the way for our efforts by going tent-to-tent
informing people of the eviction and passing out flyers about Grace Market
Place. The folks out at Grace Market Place, and all the community volunteers,
are working very hard to make this facility a gracious and welcoming place to
all refugees of these difficult times. This was a true community effort.
Anyone who experienced the terrible, traumatic eviction of Tent City a few years
ago, appreciates how far we have come in getting to know one another – whether
housed or houseless – and in learning to work together.</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
Our drive to gather tents and money to buy tents for those who
have had to move is also being widely supported by the community. So far, I
have had a tent for everyone who has come here to ask for one. I make sure that
people know that these tents come from their friends in the housed community.
They ask me to tell you, “Thank you and God bless you.” </div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
love and peace to everyone,</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
arupa</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, insect repellant,
Vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks,
batteries, and games. Call </span></span></span></span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="href: "https://www.blogger.com/null";"><span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span><a href="http://homevan.blogspot.com/" title="http://homevan.blogspot.com/">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</a></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-79354777013607762412014-06-29T08:12:00.002-07:002014-06-29T08:12:11.518-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 6/29/14<div style="color: black; display: inline; font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">
TENT
CITY EVICTION – HELP NEEDED</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
Homeless people who live along the bike trail, near the downtown RTS
station, have until Tuesday, July 8 to move out. The person who owns the land
wishes to sell it. He was holding off until Grace Market Place opens for actual
shelter, but that date has been pushed to November 1 and he needs to get his
land on the market now. Other camping areas, including the Sweetwater Branch
camp, remain undisturbed. This particular portion of tent City has a fair
number of people who are elderly or have other major challenges, so they are
going to need help to get themselves and their possessions moved out. We are
encouraging them to move to wooded areas near the Grace Market Place, so they
will have access to water, meals and other amenities. According to the latest
count, about half the people who were living in this area have moved out on
their own, or with help from the good people of Occupy Gainesville, and between
20 and 30 camp sites remain occupied. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We have set SATURDAY, JULY 5 at 10 a.m. as moving time for those who remain
in Tent City. We are asking anyone who has a pickup truck or van to help.
People who may not have a large vehicle, but do have strong backs, are also
invited to come and help. Helpers should wear gardening gloves. Generations
of homeless people, some with severe addiction issues, have lived in this area,
without access to water or to garbage pickup, so conditions are not good.
Tomorrow morning, I’m doing a walk-through of the area, with Bud our van
driver. We are going to take another count of who is there and who will need
help. People will be told to have their things packed up and ready to go for
the 10 a.m. July 5 moving day. For any further information, helpers can call me
at 372-4825. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Freeman is going to make a little map of exactly where helpers should meet,
and I will send that out ASAP. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF GRACE MARKET PLACE</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
IT’S WORKING!!! Every Thursday we are finding fewer people at the Tent
City stop and fewer people living in Bo Diddley Plaza! I believe that almost
half of those living in Bo Diddley have moved, and that is WONDERFUL news!! No
one wants to live on the sidewalk in the middle of a downtown area. In talking
to these folks, I have learned that most of them are afraid of living in the
woods or are too old or too disabled to walk or bike back and forth from the
woods to services. They have been more or less trapped there, looked down upon
by snoots and prey to drug dealers and other bad guys from the housed
community. On a recent visit Freeman and I made to Grace Market Place we found
some folks who had been living on the plaza and are now volunteers at Grace
Market Place. The readers of this newsletter have played a major role in this
transformation, by donating tents and money to buy tents. Until we get
everybody moved out there, we still need donations of tents or money to buy
tents. As of this moment, I have six tents in stock, and four of them are going
out today to women who have been living in Bo Diddley. I hear through the
grapevine that some of you have been donating tents directly to Grace Market
Place, and that is fine also.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Thank yous and blessings to everyone!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa</div>
<div>
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, insect repellant,
Vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks,
batteries, and games. Call </span></span></span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE
STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY
THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-27745851946085809232014-05-10T10:08:00.001-07:002014-05-10T10:08:13.296-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 5/10/14<div style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
THE BIG PUSH FOR TENTS, TARPS AND CAMPING EQUIPMENT</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Our major project right now is furnishing tents for people who want to move
out to 39th Avenue, to the woods near Grace Market Place. I’m usually pretty
conservative about spending money on items other than food and water, especially
in the summer, but this is our big chance to help people move away from lives of
misery, sleeping on pavement, or in illegal campsites where they have uncertain
access to water, no place to dispose of garbage, may be far from services, and
are subject to eviction at any time. When the City came up with 2000 one-year
bus passes, that was the turning point. Every day this week someone has come to
me for a tent, and there is an air of optimism among our friends. This is the
first big break the unsheltered homeless people have received. In bad weather
people near the market place will have a place to go – not just in winter when
the temperature goes below 45 degrees. There is a horror in people sleeping
outside when it’s 46 degrees and raining, or during violent thunder storms, or
when hurricanes are on the way and they may be bashed by a tree falling on their
tents. This horror is ending for those who move! As time goes by more services
will be added and as more members of our community get involved with their
homeless neighbors, more people will make their way out of homelessness
altogether. So this is everyone’s big chance to make a real difference. If you
can donate a tent, if you have some camping supplies you don’t need anymore, if
you can donate some money for buying tents –please do this! Although people
moving from Tent City may already have tents, many of them are so old and ratty
they can’t be moved without falling apart. The whole community needs to come
together and make this happen! </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In the meantime, we are doing our summer water outreach, and will continue
to do so as long as it’s needed. The move to 39th Avenue is going to be in
stages. It will not be, as my hilarious husband says, “The Homeless Rapture.”
So we need water donations also. And BUG SPRAY! All campers, in town and out
on 39th Avenue, are being tortured by clouds of mosquitos. Every can of bug
spray donated is an answer to prayer at this time of year.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
THE FUTURE OF THE HOME VAN</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The Home Van is not going out of business (some people heard that rumor).
We will continue to do what we can, as long as we are needed. Freeman and I are
Taoists and we will be following the Tao of this change, seeing where we are
needed. To the best of my knowledge, the Williston Road encampment is not
being closed down. The portion of Tent City that is along the bike path will be
closed down on June 1, so far as I know, as the owner wants to sell the land.
We are hoping that the people there will move to 39th Avenue, and will do
whatever we can to to support that. Some of the folks from Occupy Gainesville
are also very active in supporting this move. They have been scouting out good
campsites on 39th Avenue and furnishing transportation for people and their
belongings. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
peace and love to everyone,</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa</div>
<div>
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, insect repellant,
Vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks,
batteries, and games. Call </span></span></span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></span></a></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div>
<div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span></span> </div>
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<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE
STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY
THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-82316614530518644372014-04-08T09:24:00.000-07:002014-04-08T09:24:34.997-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 4/8/14<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 12pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span style="color: #333333;">THE NEW
HOMELESS SERVICES CENTER ON 39TH AVENUE</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>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.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>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.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>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.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>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.
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>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</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>-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.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>TENTS ‘n TARPS –
BOOKS ‘n BUG SPRAY – SOAP ‘n SHAMPOO</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>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.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>_______________________________________________</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>I will be
keeping this list updated on the progress and needs of Grace Market Place, as
they arise. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>Blessings on all
of you!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>arupa</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span>__________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home
Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, insect repellant, Vienna sausages, creamy
peanut butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks, batteries, and games. Call
</span></span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="href: "wlmailhtml:%7b78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7dmid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/";"><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></a></span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="href: "wlmailhtml:%7b78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7dmid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/";" target="_blank"><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></a></span></span><span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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 </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="href: "wlmailhtml:%7b78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7dmid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/";"><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></a></span></span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">)
WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR
RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.</span></span></span><span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-19774661973607725212014-01-26T09:53:00.003-08:002014-01-26T09:53:55.284-08:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 1/26/14<br />
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THE CHRISTMAS PARTY</div>
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First, I want to thank all the people, the many churches and groups and
individuals, who came to our Christmas party. Everyone got Christmas stockings
and baked goods and oranges and fudge. I also want to apologize for the level
of confusion and crowding. Clearly, we have outgrown the little parking lot and
adjoining areas. There was supposed to be a church youth choir there singing
carols. I fear they might have gotten discouraged and packed it in. I would
like to think that next year there will be a wonderful Christmas party at the
new homeless center – inside with light, warmth, a Christmas tree, food on
tables. It has always bothered me that the homeless people are so incredibly
grateful for these stockings, and look forward to them so much. By mid-November
people are asking me, “Are we going to get Christmas stockings this year?” No
one should be so happy for so little, in our society overflowing with comfort
and endless stuff. But they are. In part because it means to them that there
are people out in the housed community who care about them.</div>
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TENTS/TARPS/MYLARS</div>
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This winter we have had more tent donations than ever before in our 12
years of collecting tents. I can’t tell you how grateful I am! When some
shivering, desperate person comes to my door wanting a tent – I have one! For
the first time ever, this terrible month, I haven’t had to tell anyone that I
don’t have a tent to give them! Your kindness, your willingness to spend some
real money in these hard times – I don’t know what to say except God Bless
You!! That’s what the homeless people almost always say when they receive a
tent. I also need tarps, since they add a lot of rain-proofing to the tents.
And MYLARS! More mylars. Usually the mylars I get in December last me the
whole winter with a few leftover for next winter’s start up, but this year we’re
running through them fast.</div>
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JANUARY HORRORS </div>
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A warm up, followed by a hard rain soaking everyone’s blankets and clothing
, an immediate plunge down into the twenties and thirties – this cycle over and
over again – it doesn’t get any worse than that. Every year one of our local
TV stations does a ‘feel good story’ about homeless people going into cold night
shelter. THIS IS NOT THE STORY – the story is the many hundreds of people who
aren’t in cold night shelter. The amount of cold night shelter available is
only sufficient for a small fraction of our more than 2000 homeless citizens.
Many hundreds of people are outside when the temperature goes into the
twenties. </div>
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Pat goes downtown on cold nights to make sure everyone has an emergency
blanket to wrap up in beneath their other blankets. Lately he has also been
bringing food to the folks who sleep on the pavement downtown. By nine o’clock
they are ravenously hungry. It takes a lot of calories to survive outside in
winter. One night he couldn’t make it so Freeman and I went downtown. It was
a night in the twenties and six people were sleeping on the sidewalk around the
plaza. They were under piles of everything they owned and did not even look
like people anymore. A casual passerby would have thought there were piles of
garbage and black plastic on the sidewalk waiting for a morning pickup.
Underneath each of these piles was a human being. A bit of face would peep out,
and I would hear a voice saying, “Thank you, God bless you.”</div>
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Pope Francis is calling on the entire human family – Catholics,
Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists – everyone – to come together and
take care of poor people. He is calling for a new era of love and sharing and
compassion. This is what we need. Each of us can make this happen, working
from wherever we are stationed in life. We are the only ones who can make this
happen. </div>
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Love and blessings to everyone,</div>
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<div>
arupa</div>
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<span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The
Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, Vienna sausages, creamy peanut
butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks, batteries, and games. Call
</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow"><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></a></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow"><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></a></span></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT,
APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-3116181594490474552013-12-10T08:12:00.003-08:002013-12-10T08:12:38.153-08:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 12/6/13<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 12pt;">
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CHRISTMAS PARTY</div>
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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!</div>
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NATIONAL HOMELESS PEOPLE’S MEMORIAL DAY</div>
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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.</div>
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THE MAGIC OF ONE-ON-ONE</div>
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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. </div>
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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. </div>
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We are in the time of the midwinter Festivals of Light and Hope. May all
of you be blessed!</div>
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<div>
arupa</div>
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<span><span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The
Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, Vienna sausages, creamy peanut
butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks, batteries, and games. Call
</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow"><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></a></div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow"><span><span><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></span></span></a></span></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT,
APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-91119570316493736602013-11-02T12:38:00.002-07:002013-11-02T12:38:28.395-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL: NOVEMBER 2, 2013<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
COMING FULL CIRCLE: TWO STORIES FROM PISTOL ALLEY</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Since the nation’s economy went south, the Home Van is serving an
increasingly broad demographic of people. In the early years we were a mission
to chronically homeless people. That first winter we were out delivering
blankets one night and one of our friends told us that there were a group of
people living in a house in Pistol Alley who had no utilities, no food and no
blankets. Pistol Alley runs behind North Main Street Publix, so we headed over
there. The scene we found was unlike anything I’ve ever encountered before or
since. Some twenty to thirty people were milling around in front of a small
house and in the backyard, where someone had built a bonfire. These people were
so intoxicated that they were staggering in blind circles, some babbling and
some screaming. Their eyes were entirely blank – no one home behind those eyes
- their souls in hiding. It is the first and only time in the course of doing
this work that I have felt scared. We did talk to a couple of people who hadn’t
quite reached that point, a man named Bill, and Margaret, a woman with two black
eyes and a cut on her forehead. We left the food and blankets and took off. I
decided that we could help these folks but we would never go there again except
during the morning hours. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
One Sunday morning Rod and I went over to check on this group and Bill came
out of the house. He asked us if we would drain some antifreeze from the van
and give it to him because he really needed a drink, which of course we did not
do. There are people who think alcoholism isn’t really a disease, but some kind
of choice or lack of character. They’re wrong.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Over the years since I would see Bill occasionally, usually panhandling in
the Publix parking lot. He was a quiet, gentle person, and he had more friends
than I knew. The women who tend the north Main Street cat colony counted him as
a friend, and it was one of them who let me know that Bill had died. The next
weekend we went down to the small Tent City on the north end of Main Street to
have a little service for Bill. I brought some food to give the folks down
there in memory of Bill. We were joined by one of his friends, a man who used
to work construction until the recession hit. We shared the good memories we
had of Bill, and our gratitude that his troubles were finally over. Then his
friend said a prayer of blessing, for Bill, for the homeless people, and for all
people. This prayer came from such a deep place within him that I felt the
presence of God there in that little gathering to remember Bill. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Margaret we came to know much better, because she moved to South Camp and
became partners with our beloved friend Jerry, a Vietnam vet and Native American
who was a leader in the homeless community of the time. Jerry loved to cook.
He dumpster-dived behind supermarkets, bringing home soup vegetables and frozen
meat that was close to the expiration date. He’d make big pots of food and
invite everyone to eat. He also treasured his Native American heritage. He
taught other homeless people how to survive in the woods, and when Jerry left
this world, several of his friends said they owed their very survival to the
help he gave them. Jerry had severe PTSD, and the drinking problem that often
goes with that, but it was not at the level of Pistol Alley. Margaret had moved
up in the world, and gotten onto a path that would eventually lead to her
deliverance from homelessness. Margaret loved Jerry and when Jerry became
terminally ill, she wanted to be his caregiver and to be able to visit him at
the hospital, so she struggled heroically to get control of her drinking. The
Christian Bible says, “With love all things are possible, and there is nothing
that is not possible.” That verse comes to mind sometimes, because I can think
of more than one person whose path out of homelessness opened up because there
was another being – a human or an animal – that they truly loved and were
determined to care for. Maybe that’s what that verse means, in practice. I
would suspect that it is. Margaret’s struggle had its victories and its
failures, but overall she succeeded in doing right by Jerry during his time of
leaving this world. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It was of course a very different story after Jerry died. She was in
danger of losing the little section 8 apartment that she and Jerry had shared
and drinking didn’t help. Joe and Liz took on the endless task of keeping
Margaret in housing and getting her into new housing after she was evicted from
the old housing. Joe, in particular, is a kind of Clarence Darrow of getting
difficult people into housing and keeping them there. One time Margaret was
evicted from Bailey Village because she would get drunk and run around the
courtyard hugging people. It was always something. Eventually, though,
Margaret stabilized. It is almost impossible for people with severe problems to
become stabilized while they are homeless. Having a home very often leads to a
good outcome. Margaret now has a nice little apartment off Tower Road. Before
drink took over her life, she had been a fabric artist, and she went back to
this pursuit. The walls of her apartment, which she keeps immaculately clean,
are covered with tapestries and dream catchers. She has a few cats. She still
experiences bumps in the road, and is high maintenance, but consider the trip
she has made – from Pistol Alley to this warm, little home. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Pistol Alley was a scene from Dante’s Inferno. I feel privileged to have
seen it and to know these stories of deliverance. At one time, when I was
particularly steeped in “literachoor,” I hypothesized to my self that all of
life is like a Tarot layout, and all stories go back to Dante and to the
Greeks. I don’t have all that sorted out like I did when I was younger and
knew so much more, but I still think there’s some truth to it.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
MYLARS, TENTS AND TARPS</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
These are the items we need most. This is a winter like no other, because
so many people are living outside. May it be the last one.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Love and peace to everyone,</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
arupa</div>
<div>
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</div>
<div style="-ms-word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 19.2pt;">
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<div style="display: inline;">
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<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<span><span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van
needs tents, tarps, bottled water, Vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly,
candles, white tube socks, batteries, and games. Call
</span></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">352-372-4825</span></span></a></span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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
</span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</span></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></a></div>
</div>
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<span><span><span><span><span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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 </span></span><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000054/!x-usc:http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: #5588aa;"><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting; text-decoration: none;">(800-435-7352</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 7.5pt;">) WITHIN
THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION
BY THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-15478559719835223692013-10-06T09:55:00.000-07:002013-10-06T09:55:35.553-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 10/6/13<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">PAT FITZPATRICK TRIBUTE PARTY/HOME VAN
BENEFIT</span></strong></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
<span><span style="font-size: medium;">featuring
the</span></span><br />
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<span><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Gainesville Liberation Orchestra!
</span></strong></span></div>
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<span><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">1982 Video Game Bar / Music &
Arts Venue</span></strong></span></div>
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919 West University Avenue</span></div>
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8:30 on (music begins at 9 p.m.)</span></div>
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(all ages / non- smoking inside)</span></div>
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<span>
$5 donation ($7 under 21)</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>Pat
Fitzpatrick, founding member of the Home Van and long-time Home Van driver, has
retired from the Home Van to focus on some personal challenges, although, as I
will explain, he has not retired from helping his friends in the homeless
community. This party will celebrate Pat’s enormous contribution to the Home
Van and his untiring efforts to combat hunger in our community. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>I
can’t imagine what the Home Van would be without Pat’s role in making it what it
is. He taught me how to reach out to people. I’m a bit of introvert and also
grew up in Vermont, the Introvert Capital of the country. I was frozen in place
at the idea of going up to strangers, giving them food and even talking to
them. On those first few driveouts I just watched Pat, whose </span><span>resume included a long stretch of union organizing in
Immokalee, Florida, where he had his office at Ernie’s Flophouse.</span></div>
<div>
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<span>He’d
see a down-and-out looking person and he’d walk right up to them with that big,
cheesy Irish grin from ear to ear, clap them on the back and say, “Hey, Buddy!
Howya doing?” No one could resist him. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>That
first winter of 2002 was one of the coldest in Florida history, with many nights
in the twenties and thirties. We were, to the best of my knowledge, the only
group doing direct outreach on the streets. That winter Pat and I would drive
around town on cold nights - down alleys, across parking lots, behind dumpsters,
into patches of woods – with two gallons of hot chocolate and a load of
blankets.</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>When
I got a call from United Way 211 about someone desperate for food, Pat would
take them a bag of groceries – any time, anywhere. He says, “This is my job.”
He often quotes from books he’s reading on the principles of Catholic Social
Justice. He tells me, “If you have two coats, one of those coats belongs to the
poor.” </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>Even
in relative retirement, he’s still doing his job. This summer he discovered
that the water fountain in the downtown plaza is defective. He brought this to
the attention of the Parks and Recreation Department, who plan to replace it.
In the meantime, he goes down to the plaza most nights with a big cooler of ice
cold bottled water. He sits out schmoozing with the passersby and offering
water to anyone who’s thirsty. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span></span><span>The good folks of 1982
are also hosting this event as a benefit for the Home Van. </span><span>Come join us in honoring Pat. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>CHRISTMAS STOCKING TIME</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>As
most of you know, the Home Van hosts a yearly Christmas party for our homeless
friends at the downtown community plaza. This year’s party will be on Thursday,
December 19 at 6 p.m., in the little parking lot on the east side of the Civil
Courthouse and down from the Lunchbox Café. It is a custom that people from all
over the community – school children, office staffs, bowling teams, scout
troops, families, neighborhoods – stuff Christmas stockings and bring them to
the party. Some people also bring home baked goodies. This year the Unitarian
Youth Choir is coming down to serenade us with Christmas carols. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>For
you new folks, here is how you do a Christmas stocking: Buy a pair of white
athletic or tube socks. Stuff one sock into the toe of the other sock. Stuff
the sock with Christmas presents and tie off the end. Suggested stocking
stuffers include but are not limited to: candy canes, chocolate bars, candles,
small flashlights, batteries, stamped envelopes, reading glasses, nail files,
gloves, caps, hotel-size soaps, and shampoos, lotion, pens, puzzle books,
paperback books, playing cards.... The various dollar stores are great places to
find affordable stocking stuffers. I have to ask that no one put money into a
Christmas stocking. It is painful when some people get money and others don’t,
especially toward end of the month when everyone’s broke. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>ADVOCACY GROUP MEETING</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>As
you know, about a dozen Home Van supporters are forming a group to do research
on homeless issues, followed by efforts to educate the community on who our
homeless friends are and what challenges they face. This group’s goal is to
shine the light of knowledge on irrational fear of homeless people. The group’s
first meeting will be Tuesday, October 8 at the Civic Media Center, 433 South
Main Street, 7 p.m. Anyone who did not sign up for this group but feels
inspired to come are most welcome. I will be circulating notes by email for
those who can’t make this meeting. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>MYLAR
BLANKETS</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>It’s
time to start collecting mylar blankets. These blankets, also called space
blankets, are available at WalMart and at any store that offers camping
supplies. They generally cost under a dollar each. They can also be purchased
on line at a multitude of sites. Anyone who is charging a dollar or more per
blanket, don’t buy from them. You can do better. I think it’s going to be
particularly important this winter to have a large supply of these blankets on
hand. The number of people coming to us for supplies has doubled since last May
and many of them are sick or elderly. </span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
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<span>STATUS OF THE ONE-STOP</span></div>
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<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>The
City Commission has voted to buy the old Gainesville Correctional Institute on
39th avenue, in it’s entirety. The State has agreed to expedite this purchase,
so the city may own the site as early as this November. The center will start
offering some services as soon as possible. It is going to be a long process to
get this Homeless Empowerment Center, as it is now called, up and running in
full. It is likely that our homeless friends are going to have to struggle
through another winter on their own for the most part. May this be the last
one! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>WHAT
WE NEED</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>We
are low on double A and triple A batteries, personal hygiene products, and
paperback books. You can call me at 372-4825, to arrange for drop off.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>peace
and blessings to everyone,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>arupa</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span>____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div>
<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<div style="display: inline;">
<span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van needs tents, tarps, bottled water, bug spray,Vienna
sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, candles, white tube socks, batteries, and
games. Call </span></span></span><span><span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow">352-372-4825</a></span></span></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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 </span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</a></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000004/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"></span></span></span></span></a></div>
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<span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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 <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%7B78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC%7Dmid://00000095/" rel="nofollow">(800-435-7352</a>) WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY
ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE
STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-24622512503831131122013-09-07T08:18:00.001-07:002013-09-07T08:18:27.925-07:00City Commission Meeting/Candlelight vigil<div>
This afternoon the City Commission voted to buy the land on 39th Avenue
since a land swap is not happening. According to city staff, there is some
willingness on the part of the Department of Corrections (DOC) to go with a
sale. Commissioner Wells asked the city to also negotiate for early occupancy
of the site, rather than waiting for all the cumbersome wheels of a government
transaction to go through, and the other commissioners also agreed with that.
</div>
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<div>
This is a very welcome development. At the time I called for the
candlelight vigil, I was hearing that this land swap falling through could well
be a deal-breaker for the DOC and at best would result in a lengthy postponement
of the opening of the One Stop Center. Commissioner Wells, by the way, was
magnificent in addressing the latter issue. He said, to paraphrase,
<strong>What we have on the downtown plaza is an emergency. People sleeping all
over the place. It is an emergency for them, it is an emergency for the people
working to establish and maintain businesses downtown, it is an emergency for
everybody involved....I am tired of endless bureaucratic obstacles and legal
obstacles – a lot of people have been working very hard for a long time for this
– it is what our community wants...</strong></div>
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<strong></strong> </div>
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<div>
He was much more eloquent and complete than that but I am reproducing it as
best I can because it was the most magnificent, heartfelt and compelling speech
I have heard from the dais in a long time, if ever.</div>
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Our candlelight vigil last Sunday went really well. The group discussed
the situation and made a decision to do research for a public relations campaign
on behalf of homeless people and parolees. It seems we have the beginning of an
advocacy group made up of people both from the activist community and the faith
community working together for a common goal. That is a terrific partnership,
one that is needed! So, we will meet again this Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Duck
Pond, meditate a bit, and then decide where we want to go from here. There will
be issues, there will be obstacles, one victory is not going to put us out of a
job. We may want to meet elsewhere in the future.</div>
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arupa</div>
<br />Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-9979012024212325882013-08-25T08:19:00.000-07:002013-08-25T08:19:00.844-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL: SPECIAL EDITION<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri"; font-size: 12pt;">
<div class="article_text article_paragraph0">
<span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 24pt;"><strong>Duck
Pond opposition spurs Plan Board to reject probation office's
move</strong></span></span></span><br />
<span><strong><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-large;"></span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">“Stalled out for years at a prior location, the
city's longstanding plans for a homeless shelter and assistance center east of
Gainesville may have hit another stumbling block.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">After
hearing hours of opposition from dozens of residents of the Historic Duck Pond
neighborhood Thursday night, the city's Plan Board denied a permit application
to relocate the state's downtown probation office to a building along Northeast
First Street just west of the neighborhood.</span></div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The state
was to take ownership of the building, a former law office just north of City
Hall that more recently housed the police department's detective division, in a
land swap that was part of the agreement for the city to get the shuttered
Gainesville Correctional Institution on Northeast 39th Avenue for the homeless
assistance facility...”</span></div>
<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
-Christopher Curry/Gainesville Sun/8/22</div>
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</div>
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The probation office has been located
downtown, a few blocks from the Duckpond Neighborhood, for at least the past 30
years. For the past several years it has been located two blocks away from my
home in the Southeast Historic District, one of the lowest crime rate
neighborhoods in the city. In all that time there has not, to the best of my
knowledge, been a single incident of criminal behavior connected to the comings
and goings from that office. </div>
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This decision of the Planning Board will
not go before the City Commission. It will stand unless it is appealed, through
a process I’m not familiar with, and that appeal will also go before the
Planning Board.</div>
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A book called <em>A Course in
Miracles</em> makes a statement to this effect: All human behavior comes from
either fear or love. I have analyzed my own actions and the actions going on
around me and I’m convinced that this statement is absolute truth. We now have
an instance of a decision based on fear. Decisions based on fear tend to have
very bad results. In this instance, help for the sick, elderly and disabled
people who make up a substantial portion of the homeless community has met
another major stumbling block.</div>
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I have not, in my almost 70 years, seen
anything like the suffering that is going on in the homeless community. Some
nights there are so many people with canes, crutches, in wheelchairs, bent over,
lined up at the Home Van that I feel like I’m looking at a line into a faith
healers tent. There has been a sense that we are all hanging on by our
fingernails waiting for the One Stop Center to open. </div>
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</div>
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I am not going to demonize the people of
the Duckpond Community or their allies for this decision. I have struggled with
irrational fear for all of my life and I know how powerful it is. Wise beings
have said that there is only one force in the universe that is more powerful
than fear, and that is love. After some contemplation, I have decided that I’m
going to hold a candelight prayer vigil on the banks of the Duckpond every
Sunday night from 7 to 8 p.m., beginning Sunday, September 1. I am inviting the
entire community, housed and unhoused, rich and poor, to join me. People of all
faiths and no faith. Atheists and secular humanists are invited to join me.
Their belief that love and grace and creativity lie within the human spirit I
hold as sacred as any belief held by me or anyone else. We are all one. </div>
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That the human family may come together,
that we may love and care for one another, that we will stop being afraid of one
another and shooting at each other and shutting each other out – that will be
our prayer and our affirmation.</div>
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Please join me on the banks of the
Duckpond on Sunday, September 1 at 7 p.m. or any Sunday after that. Please
invite others.</div>
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Peace and love to everyone,</div>
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<div class="pagpag1" style="display: block;">
arupa</div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5714442663125916811.post-90278987595486224802013-07-20T08:28:00.002-07:002013-07-20T08:28:35.636-07:00HOME VAN JOURNAL 7.20/13<div>
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THE JUNE SURPRISE</div>
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For a long time about 100-150 people have been coming to Home Van meals,
with the numbers rising as we go toward the end of the month. In June we went
on our first driveout of the month and 225 people showed up – more than usual
out in the woods and a really big crowd downtown. I hoped it was an anomaly
since we are on the outer edge of how many people we can serve. We are the
Home Caravan these days, with Liz McCulloch’s car fitted out with the socks
boutique, candles, mylars, bug spray and batteries, and one or two other cars
carrying volunteers who cannot be crammed into the van itself. </div>
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It was not an anomaly – every driveout since has been enormous. These last
two driveouts we were saved from running out of food by a church group that
showed up. That won’t be true every week and I’m considering strategies for
coping with this situation. It is a terrible thing to have to turn hungry
people away. If anyone out there would like to make a few extra sandwiches for
us and drop them by, that would be welcome. Peanut butter sandwiches would be
fine, just don’t use crunchy peanut butter since a good many people have bad
teeth or no teeth. Extra fruit and boiled eggs are also very helpful. You can
give me a buzz at 372-4825, or email me, about this.</div>
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The buzz down at Bread of the Mighty Food Bank suggests that many groups
are experiencing a big rise in numbers. I am puzzled by news reportage that
things are getting better, homelessness is down, employment is up. We just
aren’t seeing it. I heard through the grapevine that a local trailer park
evicted 17 people recently. It all adds up. People who are evicted from their
homes have no choice but to go downtown – what else can they do – stand around
on the sidewalk somewhere? For some people, a bench on the downtown plaza has
become home. </div>
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PHOENIX RISING</div>
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Phoenix Rising, a new group in the community is partnering with the Home
Van. This past week several of our egg boilers were out of town and they
showed up with 15 dozen boiled eggs and some other items as well. Phoenix
Rising<span id="yiv9721620892yui_3_7_2_56_1373923033999_76"><span style="font-family: Lucida Console;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> is an open community who
meets twice a month and are interested in spiritual growth and community
outreach by working with existing organizations. Their contact information is
email: </span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000115/!x-usc:mailto:roxaneb555@gmail.com"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">roxaneb555@gmail.com</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">TENTS</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">I am getting many, many requests
for tents from people who are desperate to the point of anguish. Last week two
young women, one about six months pregnant, came by to get my last tent. the
young pregnant woman didn’t speak at all – she just stood on my steps looking
permanently stunned. Her friend chatted with me, expressing much gratitude. I
realized that this scene has taken on a kind of ghastly normality because I have
experienced it so many times. </span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">I am hoping that there might be a
group out in the community – maybe a group connected to a band – who could do a
big tent benefit for the homeless community. We really need to have a hundred
or more tents in stock to cope with this situation, and in reality I rarely have
more than five or six tents available and often I have none. If anybody could
organize something like this, let me know.</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">THANK YOU</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">Many thanks to all the people who
have brought us bug spray and water. This is the worst mosquito season ever out
in the woods, so I hope people can continue with this outreach.
</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">Thank you for being there for us –
so many of you, so often. That’s how we keep going.</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">Love and peace to
everyone,</span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;"></span></span> </div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Lucida Console; font-size: x-small;">arupa</span></span><span><br /></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span><span><span style="color: #333333;">The Home Van needs tents, tarps,
bottled water, bug spray,Vienna sausages, creamy peanut butter, jelly, candles,
white tube socks, batteries, and games. Call
</span></span></span><span><span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000115/!x-usc:tel:352-372-4825" target="_blank" value="+13523724825">352-372-4825</a></span></span></span><span><span><span style="color: #333333;"> 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 </span></span></span><span><span><span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000115/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/">http://homevan.blogspot.com/</a></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000115/!x-usc:http://homevan.blogspot.com/"><span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"></span></span></span></span></a></div>
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<span><span><span><span style="font-family: Arabic Typesetting;"><span style="font-size: 7.5pt;">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 <a href="wlmailhtml:{78BBAA8A-37E4-47F8-956D-D6A917AAA4CC}mid://00000115/!x-usc:tel:%28800-435-7352" target="_blank" value="+18004357352">(800-435-7352</a>)
WITHIN THE STATE.REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR
RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Arupa's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01849598628039301435noreply@blogger.com0