serving our community since 1997
If you received this issue of the Homeless Voice in your mailbox please go to pg 5 We have an Emergency! Part of the North American Street Newspaper Association
COSAC Foundation | PO Box 292-577 Davie, FL 33329 | 954-924-3571
The Sabo Spirit
Dear Homeless Voice Readers:
Written By Sean Cononie
Linda Sabo passed away the other day unexpectedly. We had no warning, no preparation, no signs of illness, so in other words we had no chance to say good bye. That, to me is the worst feeling in the world. Someone dies who you have known and loved for so many years and then to come into work the next day and hear they had died just takes everything out of you. Death is permanent. The jokes she told yesterday, the conversation you had just hours ago will never be experienced again. Where a beautiful human being once stood is now vacant. A memory. To most of you because you did not know her it was just another person here at the shelter who passed away, but to us she was one of the sweetest, kindest, friendliest women you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. I’m sure many of you are saying yeah, right, we say that about everyone, but that’s not true. This woman was extraordinary. Never, ever a bad word about anyone she would always try to give a side or comment that did not offend anyone. Even when that person was so wrong or when they wronged her she would still come up with alternatives so not one individual would have all fingers pointed at them. She cared about all people even if they caused a gigantic conflict. Every time we would end up in the elevator together she would say the same thing, “I should have married you when I had the chance.” We used to call each other “babycakes” because we had that kind of relationship; love for each other but without the true emotions. Love in our friendship was what it was all about. No matter what you asked her to do she did it, did it
well and without attitude. I’ve said this at least a hundred times already and I’ll keep saying it as long as I’m here. “I just cannot believe she’s gone.” There is no way anyone is ever going to be able to justify why this wonderful woman was taken from us. If we had a hundred Linda Sabos this place could have been utopia. Six years of “hey babycakes,” six years of “I love all of you” and now it’s done. It’s not fair but it’s done and I know as do most of the staff here, there will never be another like her. While staff bickered with each other from time to time Linda was our Switzerland. She was neutral just going about her business and flying under the radar if you will. She genuinely did love us all and it kills me to think she died the way she did. Although it was quietly it was still alone. You see, she lived off campus and was alone when she died; there were no first re-
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We are the small non-profit that runs the #1 emergency and response shelter in South Florida. We serve, house, and care for 500 homeless every day, and have costs like any other business: water, power, rent, programs, staff and legal help. The Homeless Voice is extremely effective. It is a place where anyone in need will get help. It is a safe place for people to go when they have nowhere else to turn. We take no government funds. We run on donations averaging about 33 cents. If everyone reading this paper gave the price of a cup of coffee, our fundraising would be done. If helping people is important to you as it is important for us, take one minute to go online to www.hvoice.org and become a monthly angel. $15 per month is what we need from You. Please help us forget fundraising and get back to Serving the Homeless. Thank you.
Deerfield Beach man tells cops he hunted down, killed homeless man Susannah Bryan and Charlie Grau Sun sentinel For two weeks, John Stabile told police, he had murder on his mind. Early Saturday morning, he saw the homeless man he intended to kill in an alley. He had nothing particularly against him, Stabile said later. He ran home for a butcher’s knife, returned to plunge the blade into his 42-year-old victim, then waited for the man to die before calling 911. That’s the story Stabile told homicide investigators with the Broward Sheriff’s Office. When detectives arrived, he was waiting for them, sitting on a curb with a knife in his waistband. He told them he had stabbed a homeless man and waited to be sure the wounds were fatal before calling authorities. Stabile, 23, was charged with firstdegree murder and booked into the Broward County Main Jail. He told police he wanted to go to jail for the rest of his life — and that if he didn’t, he would kill again, officials said. “I’m in shock,” his uncle, Angelo Saccente, said in a phone interview from Selden, N.Y. “He’s not a bad kid. There’s another side to the story of why Johnny did what he did.” Saccente said his nephew was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2009, shortly after his mother com-
mitted suicide. Stabile has been in and out of mental hospitals ever since, his uncle said. Two years ago, he left New York for Deerfield Beach to be near his father. “He imagines people are coming after him,” Saccente said of his nephew. “It’s a shame what he did. He just needs his medicine. We feel so bad — for the victim.” Authorities were withholding the victim’s name on Saturday until they notify next of kin. On Saturday, Stabile called deputies to the scene at 7:06 a.m. Officials said he told them he stabbed his victim in an alley behind Rattlesnake Jake’s restaurant and the Sea Girl clothing shop, in the 2000 block of Ocean Drive, just blocks from the beach. It was unclear Saturday how many times Stabile stabbed his victim. Stabile told deputies he had never had any problems with the man, known to some as “Brad,” but had been thinking of killing him for a couple of weeks. When Stabile saw the man again on Saturday, he raced back to his apartment for a knife and returned to carry out the attack, detectives said. The slaying left some in the neighborhood in shock. “This is like a little Mayberry,” said Donald Mooney, who works at a nearby motel. “It’s very safe here. You don’t even see fights down here.” Henry Deleon, a regular at Rattlesnake Jake’s, says the homeless man kept to himself and never bothered anyone.
...he had never had any problems with the man, but had been thinking of killing him for a couple of weeks
“I always saw him going through the garbage looking for food,” Deleon said. “The police officer told me he was killed while he was sleeping.” Several people described the victim as a friendly soul who frequently gave away bags of candy. “He would give anybody the shirt off his back,” said Joe Allman, a Deerfield Beach resident. “All he wanted to do was listen to his headphones and chill.” Molly McGee, a 10-year local resident, agreed. “He would not even hurt a fly.” The killing did not surprise homeless advocate Sean Cononie, who noted that Florida is one of the top states in the country for hate crimes against the homeless. Homeless people are especially vulnerable to attack because many of them sleep on the streets, said Cononie, who runs the Homeless Voice shelter in Hollywood. “People who live on the streets are naturally a target because they have no doors, alarms or windows to keep intruders out,” Cononie said.
Our Purpose: To Help the Homeless Learn How to Help Themselves