Wowsa - sweet digs when compared to the typical shelter I'm familiar with!
It's a matter of priorities, always has been, always will be, and until we can start pushing the priority of safe, affordable housing, decent jobs, abundant and easily accessed education and training, I'm sad to say that we'll probably continue to need shelters in every city and town across our country....
Bigger Homeless Shelter Strives For Intimate Feel
County Opens Energy-Efficient, Modern, Residential Facility
Volunteer coordinator Sonia Smith, above, walks through the pantry of the county's new emergency homeless shelter in Leesburg. The shelter includes housing for single women and families, below right, and single men, the first in the county. The kitchen, below left, has stainless steel appliances, among the modern additions at the expanded shelter, which was moved to the county's transitional housing facility. (Photos By Leah L. Jones For The Washington Post)
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Skylights that stream natural sunlight, plush sofas and kitchens with stainless steel appliances are some of the modern additions to Loudoun County's new emergency homeless shelter.
The shelter moved Monday from its remote The Woods Road location to an expanded wing of the county's transitional housing facility on Meadowview Court, near Leesburg Executive Airport.
The 8,300-square-foot site houses a 32-bed area for single women and families, up from 24 beds spread among three houses on The Woods Road. It includes a 13-bed space for single men, the first of its kind in Loudoun.
The men's space will cater to an underserved homeless population, said Hope Stonerook, assistant director for the Loudoun Department of Family Services.
"The single men in the county who have been homeless, even though they've been employed, they haven't had a place to stay," Stonerook said. "You don't have an address, and what if you work nights? There's no place to sleep during the day."
Construction began in December. The $2.2 million project was funded by the county's Capital Improvement Program and about $500,000 in federal and state grants.
The county has a contract with Volunteers of America Chesapeake, a faith-based nonprofit corporation, to operate the shelter.
The site will expand when Loudoun's drop-in center moves this month. The center provides daytime services to the homeless, where they can shower, do laundry and receive a meal.
Next month, the county's emergency cold-weather shelter also will relocate to the new facility from a leased building in Lucketts. The cold-weather shelter is open from November to March.
The new shelter's space for women and families currently houses 18 residents. The men's section will open in two weeks, officials said, and the shelter is accepting referrals by phone.
The shelter was moved to make room for the county landfill. Its expansion comes at a time when shelter occupancies have soared in Loudoun because of higher unemployment. According to the county, on average, the shelter was 93 percent full from July 1, 2008, to June 30, up from 82 percent the previous year.
Helen Richardson, the shelter's homeless services director, said more than half the residents are typically homeless for the first time. Richardson said many of them had depleted their resources before turning to the shelter, having lost their jobs and homes.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-fleischer/without-a-home-to-live-an_b_301023.html
I met "Skateboard Bruce" in the same spot in the valley I'd met Joby a few days earlier. His real name was Bruce Cram but he went by the nickname Skateboard Bruce, which I have to say, seemed really fitting, even though I never heard him mention owning a skateboard.
There was something special about this man. I couldn't immediately put my finger on it but I sensed he was different and that he had a real gift. He spoke in such a way that led me to believe he may have suffered from an injury or had some kind of mental illness, perhaps schizophrenia. Not being an expert on mental illness, I was left only to wonder.
He had large hands that seemed disproportionate to his otherwise small frame. His eyes darted back and forth with passionate energy as he spoke dutifully of his obligation to care for all forms of life around him: insects, animals, birds, trees, plants, and people, particularly his homeless brothers and sisters.
I had only done a handful of interviews with homeless people at this point and I had never heard anyone speak this way. Truthfully, I had never really heard anyone I know speak this way. He sounded like a prophet, like some kind of enlightened being. There was something divine about this man and it was apparent that he was operating on another level. I truly felt blessed and protected as I sat in his presence.
I asked a lot of questions as I tried to get to know him better and understand how he ended up homeless. He described a tangled web of financial issues and other unfortunate circumstances.
After some time he pulled out a series of elaborate and beautiful sketches (featured in the video below) that outlined how human beings can be kinder to our planet by being more resourceful and energy efficient.
This conversation took place about four years ago, before talk of global warming was as prevalent as it is today and at the time I must admit this all seemed rather new to me too. This man had spent his days trying genuinely to make the earth a better place on all levels from the micro to the macro.
He had as much compassion and dedication towards saving the lives of the insects and birds around him as he did saving our planet and the people on it. I left him that day feeling that the world was truly a better place having "Skateboard Bruce" a part of it.
A few days after meeting Bruce, I came to realize that he and I had a mutual friend in Joby, another homeless man I had interviewed (featured in earlier articles). It was exciting for me to begin to put these pieces together. Slowly but surely this large and daunting world of homelessness I initially entered rather blindly, became a little smaller and more familiar. It felt nice.
While I was lucky enough to have several encounters with Joby, whom I came to know and love, this was the only time I ever saw Skateboard Bruce. That is until a few weeks ago.
As I would spend my weekends and free days driving around looking for homeless people to speak with, it was equally important for me to follow up with those I had already met on the street.
That one encounter with Bruce had left a profound impression on me. His regal face and pure heart were permanently etched in my memory. I thought of him often and wondered if I would ever run into him again.
I had learned from experience that those living on the street could disappear for a while only to resurface later. This had been the case with Joby who was repeatedly in and out of jail.
It has been years since I have seen Joby or Skateboard Bruce. Of the two, I thought it more likely that I would run into Joby again. Bruce seemed more like an enigma.
Just a few weeks ago I was at the gas station on Ventura Boulevard and Vineland in North Hollywood. I was pulling out of the driveway when I noticed a face in my periphery that looked familiar. I pulled over and then it hit me -- it was "Skateboard Bruce." Nearly four years had gone by since we'd first met.
But he looked different. He had grown this wild shrub of facial hair that began below his chin and covered his entire neck. I reminded him of our interview years ago and gave him a big hug. I told him that I was so happy to finally see him again.
I asked if he'd seen Joby. Bruce told me that Joby was dead.
This sudden news, combined with the rush of adrenaline from running into Bruce and the blazing summer heat made me feel like I was going to pass out.
I summoned the strength to speak and asked the obvious question, "How did he die?" Bruce told me that he had been hit by a car. But that wasn't what killed him. He said that Joby's injuries were so bad that he more or less let himself die by not treating them properly.
I hugged Bruce and gave him my condolences. Those moments always feel so trite because there is no measure of tears or sadness that can equate with such a feeling of loss.
I am heartbroken over Joby's death. I can only hope he has found happiness and peace in being reunited with his wife and daughters, of whom he always spoke.
Earlier this year I wrote two other pieces about Joby. His life, from what I gathered, was filled with addiction and sorrow, but he was always so kind to me in spite of the immense pain he was in. And so I feel compelled to tell the rest of his story.
I don't really know the details of his death; I only know that he was a homeless man who lived on the streets of North Hollywood. He was tragically wounded by the life he lived. I don't know if he had a funeral, I do not even know where his body is. These are the questions I did not have the capacity to ask as Bruce and I stood there in the blazing summer heat.
The sad truth is that simply because of Joby's status as a homeless man, his story and his life cannot reach as many people as they should. This is why I feel the need to share what I know with you. There are so many others out there who live and die on the streets, anonymous and alone.
There isn't one solution to this problem, but perhaps, at the very least we can try to pay more attention and show more compassion for these people. Remembering that while we may not know them or understand why they are out there, their lives are equally fragile and equally valuable.
Nashvillians got their own taste of a similar "cut" in September, when the fine folks in charge of allocating the Homeless Prevention and Rapid-Rehousing Program sent back grant apps with alterations to them that basically asked potential grant recipients to serve the same numbers they'd listed on their original applications but to do so with around only 40 percent of the funding they argued would be needed to serve those numbers.
Essentially, it would be like asking you to continue working in the position you currently have but to do so while they cut you pay by more than half.
A number of agencies balked, as one might expect, and several have been able to "re-negotiate" the terms. I think this may be because the peeps in charge of announcing the winners of this grant had to be crapping bricks at the prospect of having to tell the community-at-large what they'd done when those agencies went public with the funding cuts and the refusal to participate in the much ballyhooed program.
The program went into effect on 10-1, although I as yet have not heard that those selected have been cranking out funds for folks yet. There will be a major meeting on 10-9 that will almost certainly be covered by local press, and somewhere around that time, if MDHA hasn't yet made public the winners, I'll post a list of the grant recipients here so that folks will know who to go to for assistance from this pot of money.
Keep in mind that this grant is a "reimbursable" grant, meaning that a given agency will have to lay out their own cash on the front end and then submit their expenditures for reimbursement. We all know by now how that went in a similar reimbursable program, Cash for Clunkers; many of those car dealerships who participated are still awaiting their money and some have even been forced to close their doors as a result of the time it's taken to receive their reimbursements. It's likely that agencies will be darned careful until they figure out the refund time, since many non profits operate on shoe string budgets already and will have a helluva time trying to come up with an additional $20-30K a month they can use as "disposable" money.
Also because individual assistance from this grant could be substantial, keep in mind that many agencies are going to be enforcing a number of restrictions and qualifiers for those who want some assistance. Not sure yet what they will all be, but it doesn't seem unlikely to require some sort of verifiable income, sobriety, compliance to mental health medical regimens, etc., etc., etc.
The money is here, folks; we'll find out how it's going to be spent over the next few days.
There is one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty about this grant: we damn sure need it.....
Shelter Is Even More Tenuous
City Budget Cuts Stun Advocates for Homeless
PHOTOS
Jarmaine Hunter, left, and an unnamed woman wait for beds at the John L. Young Catholic Charities Center in the District. Cuts in city funding might result in hundreds of homeless people leaving shelters. "This is going to happen a whole lot faster than people think," one official said. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 3, 2009
D.C. Council members and shelter providers were stunned to learn this week that the Fenty administration has cut $20 million from the city's homeless services budget for fiscal 2010.
Advocates said the funding decrease likely will result in shelters being closed, forcing hundreds of adults and children onto the streets within months.
D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) said Friday that the $11 million cut in local funding and $9 million cut in federal funding for homeless services was revealed to him Thursday as he prepared for an oversight hearing.
"Obviously, I was taken by surprise and furious because we have a tenuous relationship with the community as it is," said Wells, chairman of the Human Services Committee, which oversees the city agency responsible for serving the homeless. "You have to have honesty and transparency in actions, and this undercuts the relationship we've developed with the community."
Wells said that because of the recession, he had expected budget cuts at the Department of Human Services. But he said department officials had assured him that the cuts would be spread across the agency's budget. "The budget . . . I asked the council to vote on showed zero cuts for homeless services," Wells said. Asked if he thought the administration action was a sleight of hand, Wells said, "You can call it whatever you want."
Mafara Hobson, spokeswoman for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), said in a statement that there was essentially no change in the homeless services budget.
Wells was scheduled to hold a Monday committee hearing on stimulus funding but said he was shifting the agenda to discuss the budget cuts to give human services officials a chance to explain why the reductions in homeless services were so deep.
Earlier this week, House of Ruth, the largest District nonprofit organization serving victims of domestic violence, lost nearly $500,000 in city funding because of the Human Services cuts, leaving it scrambling for new sources of money for its programs.
A coalition of homeless service providers that receive city funding released a statement Friday saying that more than 100 families in temporary and transitional shelters run by the Community of Hope and House of Ruth are at risk of being removed if the cuts are not restored. An additional 480 women would face eviction; about half of them are housed by Catholic Charities.
"With these cuts, none of us can continue to serve the number of people we serve," said Christel Nichols, president of House of Ruth. "We're all talking about this being imminent. We're being faced with cuts within the month. This is going to happen a whole lot faster than people think. There is no money to make up for this. Nobody has extra money sitting around to tide us over."
That group includes about 703 homeless families with about 1,400 children. The District has 164 city-funded beds for families. At least 285 families were on a city waiting list for homeless shelters in July, a number that kept growing as heads of households lost jobs in the recession. Wells vowed then to investigate why so many families were waiting for beds.
"At a time when so many people are struggling and becoming homeless, it's irresponsible of the District government to cut lifesaving services to people who are homeless," said Amber W. Harding, a staff attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. "If these deep cuts result in D.C. residents going without shelter this winter, not only will residents suffer, but the District will be in violation of its legal obligation to provide shelter during severe weather and may incur significant costs for resulting damages."
Volunteer coordinator Sonia Smith, above, walks through the pantry of the county's new emergency homeless shelter in Leesburg. The shelter includes housing for single women and families, below right, and single men, the first in the county. The kitchen, below left, has stainless steel appliances, among the modern additions at the expanded shelter, which was moved to the county's transitional housing facility. (Photos By Leah L. Jones For The Washington Post)
(Leah L. Jones - For The Washington Post)
(Leah L. Jones - For The Washington Post)
