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FLORIDAS L ARGEST STREET NEWSPAPER

COSAC Foundation | PO Box 292-577 Davie, FL 33329 | 954-924-3571

5th Annual Race Home a Success!

Thank you for coming out and making our 5th Annual Race Home a success!

April 19th 300 runners lined up for our 5k along Hollywood Beach at Charnow Park. Our volunteers cheered everyone in as Curbstone played upbeat tunes for the spectators to move along to.

Coat donations were made as a tribute to Gary Shimminger, who was a supporter of ours. * * * While our new home is now in Central FL, we still serve the homeless community throughout all of Florida through various outreach programs. The continued support during this transition has been warmly received, and we are happy to report that our move was successful.

We hope to continue to serve South Florida and now Central Florida as well for many years to come. Thank you!

Homeless Man Discovers Forgotten Bank Account partment trying to help homeless people find the ID they need in order to get things like work and housing,” McDonald said.

A homeless man who has been living in a cardboard It’s unclear how Helinski became homeless, but Helinski did box in downtown Tampa, Florida, for over three years say he was born in Poland as a U.S. citizen because his mother may soon have a modest-sized apartment and a penwas a U.S. citizen just visiting, McDonald said. sion check coming in every month, police said.

Helinski added he believed he had a Social Security number With the help of a cop and homeless shelter case and benefits but thought it was cancelled, McDonald said. manager, John Helinski, 62, discovered a forgotten “First, I drove him personally to the local tax collector’s ofbank account that has been collecting Social Security fice, where he was able to get a temporary State of Florida ID disability benefits for years, he told ABC News today. card,” McDonald explained.

Helinski is looking forward to having a place of his Using the temp ID McDonald was able to help Helinski order own to call "home" and thankful for the help he has his birth record from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of received, he added.

Tampa Police Department OfConsular Affairs, he said. ficer Daniel McDonald and He“With his consular birth certificate and linski’s case manager, Charles temporary ID, we went to the Social SeWe’re uniformed cops with curity office, and I just walked up to them Inman of Drug Abuse and Comprehensive Coordinating Office and said, ‘This man used to have benefits, police cars, but we want Inc. (DACCO), have spent the you help us?’” McDonald said. homeless people to trust us can past few weeks trying to help It turned out Helinski had always been Helinski locate his personal receiving benefits, and he just wasn’t identification documents to get aware because he lost his debit card and him into housing, Officer McDonald said. had no access to his bank account, McDonald said.

“John came to the DACCO Community Housing McDonald then drove Helinski to his old bank, where they Solutions Center last December when it first opened,” found his account, "which had still been collecting pension McDonald said. money over time,” he said. “And since he now had his tempoInman, he added, asked him to help with Helinski’s rary ID card, he could get access to the account.” case because all Helinski’s personal identifying docuHelinski is still at the DACCO Community Housing Soluments and ID were stolen and lost while he was out tions Center, but McDonald said Helinski would likely be able on the streets. to get permanent housing soon.

“As a homeless liaison officer, the bread and butter Though Helinski did not want to disclose the amount in his bank account, McDonald said he was receiving enough in of my work often involves hopping department to deABC News

monthly pension payments to have enough to pay for rent for a modest apartment and food without having to work.

Helinski's case manager Inman added he and McDonald are extremely happy for their client.

"This situation looked really difficult, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to end up," Inman told ABC News today. "If it failed, it meant we’d put a 62-yearold man on the street, and Officer McDonald and I were not OK with that."

McDonald is one of few police officers whose work revolves around helping homeless people in their assigned areas.

“We’re uniformed cops with police cars, but we want homeless people to trust us,” he said. “Our job is not to arrest someone. It’s to help them. Homeless people are still accountable to the law, but they’re now starting to see we can be trusted, and this new model and field of policing is gaining popularity very quickly, I think.”

Our Purpose: To Help the Homeless Learn How to Help Themselves

The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

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Amparo Penuela Amy Isherwood Anna Hadley Angel Porras Angela Martinez Arturo & Amelia Rodriguez Barbara Robinson Bill & Laura Fash Charles & Tracy Rice Chelsea Navucet Daniel Guevara David Reiff Deco Illusions Inc Ellen Heron

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Thank you for your support Angels! Your support keeps our doors open!

Dear Homeless Voice Readers:

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. Please visit: www.hvoice.org/member

Donate Online: HomelessVoice.org/Donate

Donations are tax deductable & help South Florida’s Homeless

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The COSAC Foundation was originally established in May 1997 to partner with other social service agencies, in the area, that provided help to the homeless population. COSAC also independently feeds the homeless or anyone in need of food. The COSAC Foundation opened it’s first homeless shelter in 1999 and named it COSAC Quarters (the shelter money was raised by spare change). We have grown into a multifaceted agency that feeds, shelters, and arranges for each homeless person to receive the necessary access to social and noncompulsory religious services to enable a return to a self-reliant lifestyle. And for the small percentage of people incapable of living independent lives, we provide a caring and supportive environment for their long-term residency.

Our vision is to end discrimination against the homeless population and to develop such an effective network of services that we greatly reduce the time a person or family emerges out of homelessness back into self-reliance.

If you received this issue of the Homeless Voice in your mailbox please go to pg 4 We have an Emergency!

Homeless Voice Newspaper Staff Publisher- Sean Cononie Editor in Chief- Mark Targett

Executive Editor- Sara Targett

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The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

About the COSAC Foundation

The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

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We continue to lose street corners where we collect all of your generous donations. The cities are banning us and we need your support now more than ever. We are currently only able to collect in one city!Please donate today at homelessvoice.org/donate

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Cage or courtyard? Homeless flock to the area near St. Vincent de Paul Waveney Ann Moore

The homeless call it “the cage.” The Huffington Post said it resembles “a giant chicken coop for humans.”

But to St. Vincent de Paul and the city, the fenced space that stretches from the charity to under the interstate is “the Courtyard.”

It’s where homeless men and women sit and sleep on benches or on the ground, secure their bikes, smoke and wander in and out at will. It takes the overflow from St. Vincent de Paul’s night shelter, which can accommodate only 75 people.

Inside the 6-foot chain link fence, on pavement covered with bird droppings, Georgette Collins folded her belongings Tuesday morning and tucked them in an overstocked bag. She’s 47, has cancer, lupus, is eight months pregnant with twins and has to spread a blanket on the ground to sleep, she said.

Asked why she doesn’t use the night shelter, her partner, Ronnie Weldon, 52, said it’s available only for 21 nights at a time, then they must spend 14 days outside before being allowed back in.

Still, it’s better than being on the street, Collins said.

Their roof is the interstate, vehicles thundering overhead. Lights are everywhere and security cameras watch every move.

The fence was put in by the city.

“We have a large police presence over there and the ple per day. people told the police, ‘We’re afraid of what is going Thursday, Smith will ask the City Council to approve another on in the streets and can we please have a place that is $12,064 to increase overnight staffing at St. Vincent de Paul safe’ ,” said Cliff Smith, the city’s manager of veterfrom one to two people. ans, social and homeless services.

Not everyone likes the fence.

“It’s become a popular Even Michael Raposa, St. Vinplace to hang out.” cent de Paul’s executive direcIn fact, the fence had tor, didn’t like it at first. to be extended over “But the response from the We as advocates and service a larger area and St. community is that they really, Vincent de Paul, at 401 really like it,’’ he said. “They providers have really got to do a 15th St. N, asked the can take a nap, it’s out of the city to add more camelements and they can just be.’’ eras and lights. Smith better job of listening to the people Raposa added that the fencedsaid the cameras cost in area gives people a safe place that we allegedly serve about $5,000. The to sleep “versus in an alley or on fence was used and the streets.” installed by city workG.W. Rolle, a formerly homeers. That cost “less than less man who sits on Pinellas $5,000,” he said.

County’s Homeless Leadership Board, said the area is referred The money is in addition to what the city already to as “the people cage.” provides to the program to help the homeless. This “We as advocates and service providers have really got to do year, St. Petersburg is providing $175,565 to the ora better job of listening to the people that we allegedly serve,” ganization, which includes $120,565 for its care censaid the social justice pastor for the Missio Dei Community, ter, $35,000 for storage units for their belongings and which serves a Sunday meal for the homeless. $20,000 for its family shelter. The overnight shelter “They’ve come up with this people cage, a de facto solution, serves 75 adults. The day program provides restbecause last year people were getting arrested across the street rooms, meals, showers, employment referrals and at Unity Park.

They’re not getting arrested, but it’s still a cage.” case management services for an average of 120 peo-

The Rev. Bruce Wright, a homeless advocate with the Poor People’s Economic Rights Campaign, said he understands the principle behind the fence.

“But unfortunately, I agree with how the homeless characterize it. I believe it gives this sense of imprisonment and being caged in. … It’s about the city trying to hide the homeless from the general public.”

Smith disagrees.

“The longer term solution is more affordable housing, but until we have a sufficient source of that, this is the next best option,” he said.

Robert Marbut, the consultant who worked with the city on the homeless issue, applauds the idea. Its proximity to St. Vincent de Paul’s program and case managers is a proven way to help people “graduate” from homelessness, he said.

“Nobody is ever going to graduate from the street if we enable people to hang out in the park,” he said.

“That’s what the real goal should be, is to help people get independence.”

But Wright sees the fence as inhumane, a violation of human rights.

“If the population that we are serving felt it was inhumane, or unsafe, they obviously would be gathering in a park or somewhere else,” Raposa said.

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Lena’s Loving Advice

Within the next few issues, we will be trying out the column Lena's Loving Advice by Lena Larkin.

Please send in your problems for Lena to start answering them.

You can write directly to lenaslovingadvice@gmail.com

The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

Meatless Monday! Cauliflower Nuggets

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The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

Orlando

Single Dad shows challenge of ending Vet Homelessness are here when the Tampa-Hillsborough Homeless Initiative releases its “point in time” TAMPA — Three young children hop out of the dented 1996 Toyota Corolla and walk count of the homeless in Hillsborough County. Last year, the local tally was more than upstairs to their room in the Super 8 Motel on East Fletcher Avenue.

200 veterans considered homeless.

With a parking lot all around and the busy street out front, the motel is a big change Nationwide, the VA says a Department of Housing and Urban Development “point from the single-family home where they used to live and play in a wooded neighborin time” survey showed there were nearly 50,000 homeless veterans on a single night hood on Cardinal Drive near 56th Street and the Hillsborough River. in January — more than 32,000 of them, like Hargrett, living in some form of shelter.

But for the next several days, as their father John Hargrett works his way through In 2010, Hargrett left the Navy as an Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class, according to official programs for at-risk veterans, the motel is home for Elias, 6, Grayson, 4 and Sparrow, 2. records.

Hargrett, 33, served 11 years in the Navy as a nuclear power technician. He and his During his service, Hargrett received several basic honors, including the Navy “E” three kids have been bouncing between motels and family members since April 16, Ribbon and two Good Conduct medals. when they were evicted from the house on Cardinal Drive. They have stayed just a few Trained as a nuclear technician, Hargrett says he worked aboard the USS George steps ahead of a life on the streets, with help from nonprofits Tampa Crossroads, the Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, tending to its twin reactors.

Society of St. Vincent DePaul and Metropolitan MinBut after missing a good part of the life of his oldest istries. son Ian, a child from a relationship he had before meetFive years ago, the White House and Department of ing his wife, Hargrett decided he wanted to spend more Veterans Affairs announced plans to end veteran hometime with his youngest children. He had another issue Five years ago, the White House lessness by the end of 2015. With the clock ticking, the to deal with, too: His wife was struggling with mental case of John Hargrett illustrates many of the challenges issues. “Family was more important to me,” he and Department of Veterans Affairs health they face in meeting that goal. says, sitting at a table in the two-bedroom motel room.

Veterans actually have more options than civilians in “So I left the Navy.” announced plans to end veteran seeking help with homelessness, but the challenges are That’s when he began to run into trouble. special ones — programs that have reached capacity The Hargretts moved from Navy housing in Portshomelessness by the end of 2015 mouth, in an area like Tampa, with a large veterans populaVirginia, to a trailer in nearby Hampton before tion; the red tape veterans must negotiate to qualify for moving down to Tampa in 2011.They lived with his benefits then obtain them; and the burden of constantly mother, on and off, in the house on Cardinal Drive. taking the initiative despite these roadblocks.

A year later, he and his wife divorced.

Hargrett also admits that in his case, his own missteps have helped make his life difWhen he arrived in Tampa, Hargrett says he took the first in a series of jobs, helping a ficult. friend of his mother’s who was a property manager and needed someone to clean hous“Military people like to take care of themselves,” he says. “The biggest problem with es. After that, he worked for a construction company then a surgical supply company, veterans homelessness is a lack of awareness of what veterans are entitled to.” where he laundered operating room linens.

VA officials agree.

Hargett says he worked there a year before taking a job at Tampa Ship until a project It took a call from The Tribune for the VA to search out whether Hargrett is eligible for there was nearly complete. a long-term subsidized housing program.

“They considered bringing me aboard permanently, but I wouldn’t have accepted,” The Hargrett family’s short-term stay at Super 8 was made possible by the Society of Hargrett says. “I couldn’t have worked as many hours as they would have wanted and St. Vincent DePaul, through a grant from the VA. Hargrett said he hopes it’s their last still spend time with my kids.” stop before a more permanent solution.

Instead, he enrolled in Hillsborough Community College to earn a business degree. He He and his children are among the 140,000 veterans and family members that the VA was helped by a stipend of nearly $1,700 a month for housing through the Post 9/11 GI hopes to help this year with grants through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Bill, plus an additional $1,200 per month in VA disability benefits for service-connected program for people who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. migraines, knee and ligament damage, and esophagal problems.

The Tampa area will have a better idea in a few weeks of how many homeless veterans The money was enough to help him keep a roof over his head and take care of his

BY HOWARD ALTMAN

(Continued on pg 9)

Soaring number of Homeless Students concentrated in Central Florida

By Kate Santich

Orlando Sentinel Nearly one-fifth of all homeless public-school students across the state now live in Orange, Osceola or Seminole counties — a fact some blame on the combination of cheap, rent-by-the-week motels and high turnover at low-paying tourism-industry jobs, local leaders said Friday.

With only a tenth of the state's total population, the tri-county area identified more than 13,700 homeless students last year — including families doubled up with relatives, living in motels, staying in shelters, sleeping in cars and camping in the woods. The actual number may be twice as high, officials said, because parents are sometimes wary of revealing their living situation.

"Certainly we all have a moral obligation to do what we can for our children who are living in environments where … they don't know what they're coming home to from day to day," said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, who initiated Friday's inaugural meeting of the Family Homelessness Committee. "Realize we aren't talking about numbers. We are talking about real human beings and life-and-death matters."

The committee is part of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, which covers the three counties and aims to find regional solutions to the vast and disproportionate number of homeless people here. Jacobs has expressed concern that the commission's recent effort to house chronically homeless individuals would eclipse the needs of families.

But speakers made it clear that family homelessness would be much more complicated to solve.

"We need a money train in this community. We need millions and millions of dollars to solve this problem," said homeless commission CEO Andrae Bailey. "If you were to look at just 2,500 families you were going to try to help … you're talking $10 million.

That money is just not in the system right now.

After at least five years of continued increases, the number of homeless students across the region has largely begun to stabilize in the past couple of years, according to the latest figures from the Florida Department of Education. But it continued to climb in Osceola, where there were nearly 5,000 last school year.

Orange reported more than 6,700 — the highest homeless population in the state. Seminole, which has made the most progress, counted a little more than 2,000.

"Last year we went down about 11 percent … because of the efforts of our commu-

nity," said Beth Davalos, coordinator of the Families in Transition Program in Seminole County Public Schools, which works to help homeless students. "Seminole County government putting almost $1.5 million into it, our faith-based community putting millions of dollars into emergency housing, our businesses and community members [contributing] — that produced results."

But as that funding levels off, she said, the numbers for this year are expected to either stay the same or even increase. She said the combined lack of affordable housing and sustainable-wage jobs has exacerbated the problem. According to a recent study in Seminole, a quarter of the parents in homeless families have college degrees. About half are employed. Yet their average yearly income is $12,000.

Mark Waltrip, chief operating office of Westgate Resorts — and the force behind an effort to employ homeless parents and get their families into permanent housing — said virtually no student in the tri-county region can escape the issue.

"If your child goes to a public school anywhere in Central Florida, the odds are almost guaranteed that one of their classmates is homeless," he said.

And the impact on homeless students themselves is often severe.

Studies have found they are more likely to suffer physical and emotional problems than their housed peers. Christina Savino, the homeless-education-program specialist in Orange, said they also have dramatically increased absenteeism, lower test scores and, often, months of "academic recovery time" whenever they change schools. Their chances of earning a diploma also plummet.

In Osceola, homeless families' problems are compounded by the lack of an emergency homeless shelter, no government-subsidized housing and a nine-month waiting list to get help for anything beyond groceries and clothing, said homeless-education liaison Gabriela Barros.

Waltrip said his own research also found that homeless children living in the rent-bythe week motels along Osceola's main tourism corridor — a situation that is technically illegal — are surrounded by drug dealers, prostitutes and pedophiles.

"The crime rates at those motels are staggering," he said. "We have the largest concentration of motels operating illegally as low-income housing in the country. You couple that with the large tourism industry — and I'm in the tourism industry — and we're one of the few communities in the country where you can come 365 days a year and find a cheap motel to live in and a $9-to-$12-an-hour job."

If your child goes to a public school anywhere in Central Florida, the odds are almost guaranteed that one of their classmates is homeless

7 The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

Tampa

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The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

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What happened when this feisty woman got fined $2,000 for feeding the homeless?

Terrence McCoy Joan Cheever, red-headed, bespectacled and feisty as all get out, is the kind of person who gets known around town. There goes Joan, puttering through San Antonio in her non-profit food truck and a bandanna, which she has done since 2005, serving up hot plates of food to the homeless. And here comes Joan, appearing on celebrity chef Rachael Ray’s television show, palling around with cops for pictures, and materializing every Tuesday with more food for more homeless.

So that’s why, given her local status, what happened earlier this month came as such a surprise. Cheever’s accustomed to seeing cops when she’s doing what she calls her “religious duty.” They come by “to check on me,” she recalled in an interview, and sometimes she jokingly asks if they, too, are hungry. But on one such Tuesday night, she saw some cops approach. Something about them gave her pause. None of them were smiling.

Within minutes, Cheever was hit with a citation. It carried a potential fine of $2,000. All of that, she said, for feeding the homeless.

That ticket, as well as what came next, has made Cheever the latest flash point in what has become a contentious national debate over whether local municipalities have the right to criminalize street donations to the homeless and panhandlers. Called “feeding bans,” a growing number of cities have taken up the call to restrict food-sharing, activists say, in an attempt to de-incentivize homelessness. According to an October report by the National Coalition for the Homeless, 71 cities have either passed or attempted to breaking the law,’” Cheever recalled. They told her that her pass an ordinance that restricts food-sharing. food-truck permit didn’t extend to doling out food from anyThe effect: Late last year, police in Fort Lauderdale where beyond that vehicle. She said that didn’t make sense. If busted a 90-yeartrue, why not outlaw pizza old World War II delivery men handing out veteran named Arpizza from their cars? nold Abbott twice What was really at work, in one week for she said, was an attempt feeding the homeGiving someone a sandwich at a to crack down on feeding less. In Raleigh, homeless. She framed it as N.C., a church park is not going to keep them in a violation of her religious group said the freedom, protected under cops threatened to homelessness; it’s not encouraging Texas’s religious freedom arrest them if they law, an iteration of which served food to the has attracted considerable anyone to remain homeless. homeless. And in controversy in Indiana.

Daytona Beach, “He said, ‘You think I’m Fla., authorities infringing upon your right unsuccessfully to practice your religion?’” levied $2000 in Cheever recalled. “Then he fines against six people for feeding the homeless at said, ‘Lady, if you want to pray, go to church.’ And I said, ‘This a park. is how I pray. I pray when I cook. I pray when I serve.”

At heart in the issue are two questions. Does giving San Antonio Police Spokeswoman Romana Lopez said she food or money to the homeless abet, if not perpetuate, homelessness? And does restricting — and criminalizing — such an act constitute an infringement upon someone’s rights? “We’re all human,” said Megan Hustings of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

“Giving someone a sandwich at a park is not going to keep them in homelessness; it’s not encouraging anyone to remain homeless. This is just an act of charity, and do we really want to criminalize that in our society? This is a moral issue.“ That’s not, however, how former San Antonio Police Chief William McManus saw it. Panhandling is already illegal in San Antonio. In 2011, the city passed an ordinance that outlawed begging for money near ATMs, banks, parking meters and other public locations. Then last year, McManus pushed for a new law that would prohibit giving money or food to panhandlers. “If it’s a crime to panhandle, it should be a crime to give to panhandlers as well,” McManus said at a city council meeting, later telling the San Antonio Express-News that panhandling is a “quality of life issue.” Some homeless, he said, had become too aggressive, spitting on windshields if they’re not given something. The proposal was dropped following public outcry, and McManus stepped down at the end of last year.

But even now, Joan Cheever said, some local authorities still want to crack down on giving to the poor.

You don’t have to look any further, she said, than what happened to her.

It was the night of April 7. She had just pulled her vehicle up to Maverick Park. She began dispensing food that she had prepared in her food truck. Out of the corner of her eye, she soon saw a group of grim cops approaching on bikes. “They said, ‘You’re

couldn’t comment “on what was discussed” that night.

Cheever, also an attorney, says she’s going to fight the citation and is awaiting an apology from the city.

She has ignored the citation and orders that she desist.

If anything, she’s accelerated her efforts, attracting dozens of supporters, and hitting the streets last Friday and Saturday to feed the homeless. Even Joaquin Castro, San Antonio’s Democratic congressional representative, has called on the city council to “do right

by Joan Cheever” and “allow her to feed the homeless.”

Cheever may even take her protest to the next stage.

She says says she’s considering filing a lawsuit against San Antonio on the ground that her religious freedom was violated, potentially setting religious freedom and local laws on another collision course. “I shouldn’t be the one on the hot seat here,” she said. “This is about every church group or individual who wants to serve a meal. It’s terrible to criminalize the poor, but it’s just as bad to say to the good Samaritans that you’re a criminal too. The Bible says, ‘When I was hungry, you fed me,’ and I take that seriously. This is the way I pray, and we’ll go to court on this.”

Attempted Food Banning Laws Nationwide

NCH

(Continued from pg 6)

children while he lived with his mother.

But then she could no longer afford to pay the mortgage and Hargrett faced a new dilemma — stay in school with the housing stipend or find a job and lose that money.

Hargett opted to seek work and admits he wasn’t exactly frugal with his earnings.

“I didn’t do everything I needed to do financially,” he says. “It sucks and I accept full responsibility for it. If I look back at the money I earned, I spent it on frivolous stuff,” like restaurant meals and “excessive Christmas spending.”

On April 13, after his mother received the eviction notice, Hargrett began seeking help.

One place he approached was Tampa Crossroads, one of two organizations in the Tampa area that receives money through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. Launched in 2012, the program helps provide case management and limited financial assistance including rent payments. Tampa Crossroads received a three-year, $3 million grant in October.

After talking with Hargrett, Tampa Crossroads determined he was a preventative case — not on the streets, but in danger of landing there and considered a lesser priority.

The organization was at capacity so it suggested Hargrett contact Metropolitan Ministries and St. Vincent DePaul, says Marie Galbraith, program manager for Tampa Crossroads’s veterans assistance center.

Had Hargrett and his children been on the streets, Tampa Crossroads would have helped immediately, Galbraith says.

In the first half of this year, Tampa Crossroads served 168 veteran households and has more than 75 active cases open, Galbraith says.

One hundred open cases is the goal, but a recent staffing change reduced that.

Hargrett contacted Metropolitan Ministries on April 17 and started the initial paperwork, but never followed through with a mental health evaluation, says Justine Burke, a spokeswoman for the ministry.

That is not unusual, Burke says, because veterans often pursue several options at once.

Initially, ministry officials were not aware Hargrett was a veteran or that Tampa Crossroads suggested he contact them, says Christine Long, Metropolitan Ministry’s chief program officer. It wasn’t until Hargrett came back to the ministry April 22 for a meeting about seeking emergency housing that they realized

he was a veteran.

Last year, the program served about 125,000 people, It is unusual that Tampa Crossroads and Metropolitan Minisof whom about 30,000 were children under 18, Kuhn trydid not talk with one another about a case as it was unfoldsays. ing, Long said. Caseworkers communicate several times a day.

Overall, the VA has about $300 million allocated for This lack of follow-through added to the frustration of wading the program. through bureaucracy after bureaucracy, Hargrett said.

In its third year, Supportive Services for Veteran “I think most frustrating part of it all is to finally to start down Families placed 81 percent of those it saw into permathe road, that there are these people who can help, then they felt nent housing, the VA says. they did what they were supposed to do and I was left in the Another program might also help Hargrett and his wind with no one to talk to and get updates.” children, says Nddidi Mojay, a VA spokeswoman — Another potential roadblock veterans face is red tape, Harthe HUD/VASH program, providing Section 8 subsigrett says. dized housing vouchers to veterans. VASH stands for “They want you to fill out all this paperwork, maintain your Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing. records and bring them,” he says. “Fortunately, I keep stuff in After hearing from The Tribune, Mojay contacted one binder,” Hargrett to see if he is interested in applying.

And despite the frustrations, Hargrett did get help.

Kuhn says it is possible to eliminate homelessness Satisfied that he and his children had a safe place to stay over among veterans. the weekend, St. Vincent DePaul officials agreed to meet with “It is a challenging goal,” he says, “but one that the him Monday, April 27. They found he was eligible for the SupVA, along with its federal and community partners, portive Services for Veteran Families program, and by Tuesday, are working together to meet.” he was in a motel, using a As more comvoucher that runs through munities apMay 8. St. Vincent DePaul proach the goal, has received about $12 he says, the VA million in the program’s will be able to grants to serve veterans in shift resources Hillsborough, Pinellas and In the first half of this year, Tampa Crossroads away from resPasco counties. cuing the homeBetween October and the served 168 veteran households and has more less to preventing end of last month, St. Vinhomelessness. cent DePaul has served “For Mr. Harthan 75 active cases open nearly 900 veterans and grett and veterfamily members and has ans like him who about 275 open cases, said struggle to mainEdi Erb, the organization’s tain their housmanager for the Supportive ing, this means Services for Veteran Famithat additional relies program. sources are becoming available.”

“We respond to all referrals within one business day and we Until then, Hargrett tries to make the best of it. plan to serve everyone who is eligible,” Erb says. “Because of Inside their room at the Super 8, his three children increased demand we are prioritizing referrals to identify those horse around in the cramped quarters where dad and who are most vulnerable. We are in the process of adding staff his two sons use the big bed while daughter Sparrow to address the increased demand across all three communities.” sleeps in the smaller bed in the other room.

The Supportive Services for Veteran Families program is one Elias playfully swats his younger siblings with a yelof several ways the VA and the Department of Housing and low slap bracelet as they all squeal in laughter.

Urban Development are working to end veteran homelessness.

“I like moving to new houses,” Elias says, a big The first step is triage, says John Kuhn, the VA’s national dismile on his small face. rector of the Supportive Services for Veteran Families.

Says Hargrett, “I try to make this an adventure for Challenges like the ones faced by Hargrett and his children them.” are particularly worrisome, Kuhn says.

Homeless plan gets $1 million federal bonus

By Kate Santich Orlando Sentinel

The federal government has awarded a nearly $1 million bonus to Central Florida's efforts to house homeless people living on the streets, officials announced Wednesday.

"We've had lots of plans to end homelessness," Andrae Bailey, CEO of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, told a committee of local leaders.

"But we've never had a plan with funding. … These men and women have been identified as the most vulnerable among this at-risk population."

The bonus will be part of a $2.1 million total spent to house 240 chronically homeless individuals over the next year. The first people should start moving in to scattered apartment units by summer, Bailey said.

The HUD bonus is a first for Central Florida, which has seen large federal grants go to Miami-Dade for years. Though both regions have roughly the same population, Miami has been able to draw bonus funds and matching grants for several years because of its aggressive housing efforts.

Leaders there embraced a "housing first" philosophy based on research that showed the old way of helping the homeless — putting them in shelters and making them fulfill program requirements — didn't work for people who suffered from physical and mental disabilities, as most of the chronically homeless do.

"It appears as though Central Florida has really answered the call in making this a priority," said HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan. "The bonus money is HUD's way of incentivizing a move towards helping

the hardest individuals to house and the hardest to serve."

The rest of the $2.1 million comes from the Central Florida Foundation — using money donated by Florida Hospital — along with the city of Orlando, Orange County and the Orlando Housing Authority. Orange County recently approved 40 new permanent supportive housing units included in this effort, and Mayor Teresa Jacobs said she wanted to see homeless families helped, too.

Wednesday's announcement came as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer praised the region's commitment to reduce homelessness in his State of the City address. The number of homeless veterans in Central Florida has dropped by 57 percent since 2011, Dyer noted.

"Just as our community partnered on SunRail, the development of Medical City and the community venues, our region is

working together like never before to end homelessness," he said. "Not only is the housing first approach the right thing to do, it also saves our community money."

A study released last year found it actually cost the region's taxpayers more money to do nothing about the chronically homeless than it would cost to house them. People living on the street, the researchers found, tend to run up expensive bills for jails, police and local hospital emergency rooms.

Under the region's new plan, housing for these individuals will come with a case manager to help them get health care, counseling and other services to keep them stable.

The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

Single dad shows challenge of ending vet homelessness

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The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

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Insurance Benefits that prevents Homelessness!

After 30 years as an insurance agent, I am writing this article to share with you that I believe insurance products such as Critical Illness, Accident, Hospital, and Cancer Indemnity plans are more valuable than Health Insurance. Health Insurance is necessary but consider the following: You're in a movie theatre and notice that your hospital administrator and your doctor are sitting in front of you with their families. Suddenly gunshots ring out and you jump up and take the administrator and his family to safety. You then return and take your doctor and his family to safety. Finally you come back for your family.

REALLY? Could you survive the catastrophic costs of a major illness? Even if you survive-could your finances survive? Fifty percent of all bankruptcies & home foreclosures are caused by such medical expenses, when 80% of them had health insurance.

Ask yourself this question? If faced with a critical illness-What are the most important monthly bills to pay? Would you and your family need help with the Mortgage, Out-of-Pocket medical expenses, car, food, electric, H20, etc...? Or how about actually trying to pay your Health Insurance Premiums? This would definitely not be a good time to lapse that policy!

Supplemental policies pay cash directly to you, to be used anyway you choose. You can buy policies with $5,000 to $50,000 or more in benefits.

Wouldn't you rather get a check instead of a get well card? Make sure you and YOUR FAMILY get PAID first.

Contact me, George Preacher, Certified Medical Insurance Consultant at 954-880-2240 for more information!

The Homeless Voice is looking for a group of volunteers to gather donations in our name.

You can put teams together and raise funds or products for the shelter. We need a team to get together and make plans to search for products.

We need one person to contact hotels to get sheets, blankets, bed spreads and LED light bulbs.

www.homelessvoice.org/volunteer

If interested Please contact 954-924-3571

Each day at 3pm, say this prayer

The Homeless Voice Vol. 17 Issue 3 2015

Please Support Those Who Support Our Homeless

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