Homeless Task Force Announces Town Hall Meetings
The Guilford County/High Point/Greensboro Task Force on Ending HomelessnessVision: “To improve the quality of life for all residents of Guilford County by ending chronic homelessness and reducing all types of homelessness by 2016.”
“Five years ago the notion of cities having 10-year plans to end homelessness was naïve and risky. No one thought it was possible. But the new research and new technologies have created such movement and innovation on this issue that it may now be naïve and risky not to have such a plan.” — Philip Mangano, Executive Director, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
TOWN HALL MEETINGS
September 12, 2006
6:00 pm
Westover Church, in the Theater
505 Muirs Chapel Road
GreensboroSeptember 19, 2006
6:00 pm
City Council Chamber
Third Floor, 211 S. Hamilton Street
High PointCOME HELP US PLAN!
Sponsored by the City Councils of High Point and Greensboro and the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, under the leadership of the Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County, United Way of Greater Greensboro, and the United Way of Greater High Point.
I’m a member of the Task Force and a member of HPCGC, and I’d like to personally invite you to join us for the Town Hall meetings. I hope we’ll see you there.
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Joseph’s House Grand Opening
My mom and I attended the Joseph’s House grand opening this afternoon. Joseph’s House is a new transitional living program for homeless teens in Greensboro, founded by Nancy and Sam McLean. The program will offer shelter, counseling, case management, counseling, training and much more. After young people graduate from the program, they will continue to be followed as needed, to ensure their success. Joseph’s House is involved in partnerships with churches, non-profits, businesses and government agencies to provide the services that homeless young adults need to become housed and stable. In the beginning, Joseph’s House will serve young men, but eventually the founders plan to expand the program to serve young women, as well.
The motto of Joseph’s House is “offering hope to homeless young adults in Guilford County,” and that hope is evident throughout Joseph’s House. The house itself is a large and well-built restored brick home that seems to echo with the sounds of the families who’ve lived there through the years. Bright flowers in pots on the porch welcome visitors, and inside the big rooms are painted in vibrant, welcoming splashes of color, which Joseph’s House founder Nancy McLean says represent the “coat of many colors” worn by the Biblical Joseph for whom the house is named. Each room is beautifully decorated and comfortably furniture.
My first impression of Joseph’s House? “Home.” Peaceful, comfortable, warm, welcoming, home. It’s not a shelter, it’s not an institution, it’s a home. And I thank God for it! As my mom and I walked around upstairs and looked at all the bedrooms, ready and waiting for the young men who will soon sleep there, I said to her, “This is just what they need! Can you imagine? It’s home! It’s a real home!”
And then I overheard Nancy’s husband Sam telling friends that they were already thinking about the next house. Because, yes, the reality is that there are many homeless young adults in Guilford County. Too many for just this one house. As welcoming and beautiful as it is, it can’t hold them all. But God built this house, and He’ll build the next one, too. I am thankful and grateful for all those who gave and served to make Joseph’s House possible, and I urge you to support the ongoing ministry of Joseph’s House.
God bless you, Nancy and Sam, and all of the young people who will come through the doors of Joseph’s House. May God’s favor rest upon you all.
Update: I saw blogger Michael Brown (View from the Sidewalk) at the Joseph’s House grand opening and met his lovely wife (aka “Mama.”) Read Michael’s post about the event here.
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Street Full of Miracles
Night Watch, 08/25/06
:: Friends who’ve lived outside for many years will soon move into a home of their own. She got a permanent job. He’s getting help for chronic health problems. They’ve both been sober for months. They’ll continue to help the many other homeless folks they’re already watching out for. She prays all the time, out loud, walking down the street. “I know people must think I’m crazy, talking to myself,” she laughs. I think she’s amazing. And God heard every word. I can feel Him smiling at us, as we stand by the road, hugging and grinning. 
:: A friend who lives outside has found a safer, drier spot to sleep. He is doing well this night, and we have a good conversation. He tells us more about where he came from, and how he came to be homeless. He is glad to see us and I smile like a satisfied momma as I watch him eat the food we brought him. We pray for him before we leave and he tells us that he knows the Lord. We leave, knowing God is watching him. Always.
:: We visit a deserted building, looking for the homeless folks who sometimes sleep there. No one is home tonight, but we capture the attention of some folks in uniform, patrolling the area. After we explain about Night Watch, I ask if we can pray for them. They share with us that they’re Christians, too, and that they pray for the people they come in contact with at work. Together, we pray for their safety and protection, and for encouragement for them as they stand as a light and an example of God’s love in the darkness of the world in which they serve. I’m blessed to have met more members of the family of God. We’re everywhere.
:: Laughing young men outside a bar come up to us, curious. We hand them a Gatorade and politely decline the money they offer. They want to know why we’re giving them a free drink, so we explain that we want to show them God’s love in a real way, and we tell them more about Night Watch. Then I ask one of the young men if I can pray for him. I soon learn that he’s going through a difficult transition in his life and that God has been reaching out to him. He tells me that his family and his church are “back home,” and as he says the name he says I won’t know the small town. I smile and tell him I was born just miles away. We talk and laugh about names and places down east that are familiar to us both. I talk to him about God’s love for him, and then I pray for him. Before he leaves, we hug him and he says, “Where I’ve been lately, you don’t get many hugs.” As he walks away, he suddenly turns back to us and says, “Psalm 34:8: ‘O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.’” “Yes! Yes!,” I say back to him. He seems a little surprised at himself. He says his momma taught him the Word. I tell him that I know his momma is proud of him right now. He smiles as he turns to go. Thank you, God, for letting me show Your love to another mother’s child. I pray that You’ll give her peace, Lord, and let her know her son’s all right.
:: Two friends we haven’t seen in a while wave us down. “This is my day of miracles!,” she tells me, excited. The building they are staying in is scheduled to be torn down. They expected it to happen last week. She had woken up that morning dreading the day, expecting bulldozers outside and wondering how they would carry away their belongings. Where would they go? But then a man had told them it would be another week before the building goes. A reprieve! She rejoiced. Another week to find a new place. Someone in a house nearby let her fill up a bucket to wash her hair. She found an almost-new pair of jeans left behind in another building. And then they saw the Night Watch canteen down the block and flagged us down. And they knew they would get a hot meal, cold drinks, snack bags, blankets, and toiletries. “Another miracle!,” she cried out, grinning. Yep, the street is full of ‘em. Keep your eyes open.
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“Got the Time?”: Stories from the Front Lines
I just finished reading “‘Got the Time?’: A Search for Hope amidst Homelessness,” by Lori Gonzalez, a middle-class mom who volunteers at a winter shelter for the homeless through her Southern California church. Each chapter of the book is the story of one of the many homeless friends she’s met through her ministry, which she began in 1996. As Gonzalez shares her stories, she also reveals her own spiritual journey and shows how God blesses and teaches His followers as they’re obedient to His call to care for the “least of these.”
If you don’t know any homeless people, this book is an easy place to meet some. Gonzalez introduces us to an interesting selection of individuals and families who stayed in her local shelter. Many of them reminded me of folks right here at home. Their stories are by turns sad, hopeful, frustrating, joyful, and real. Just like the stories of homeless people here in Greensboro.
I am encouraged by Gonzalez’s faith and humbled by her commitment to pray in all circumstances. I’m reminded of the importance of prayer as our first line of defense on the front lines of homelessness, rather than a last resort when we can’t think of anything else to do.
And yet… I’m a little concerned about how the topics of substance abuse and mental illness are handled in the book. Gonzalez tells numerous stories of homeless folks with alcohol and drug addictions, but only one story includes rehab. Mental illness is clearly a factor for some of the homeless individuals whose stories Gonzalez recounts, and yet only one of them is described as receiving treatment for it, and then only in a crisis situation. At the end of the book, Gonzalez does briefly address the issue:
“While I met homeless people who had mental illnesses… the majority of the men and women I met were on the streets because they had burned bridges with their families.”
I agree that many homeless folks on the street have “burned bridges” with their families, but often mental illness (and/or addiction) is the primary cause of those flaming bridges.
Gonzalez also says:
While drug and alcohol addiction is rife among the homeless, addiction is just as often the result of homelessness as it is the root of homelessness.
I strongly disagree with that statement. Everything I’ve read, heard and experienced tells me that in the case of homeless individuals with drug and alcohol addiction, the addiction was most likely present prior to homelessness, and indeed, was likely to have been a causative factor.
I visited the web site of the East San Gabriel Valley Coalition for the Homeless, the sponsor of the winter shelter where Gonzalez volunteers. I discovered that their shelter does have a medical clinic, case management staff, and a partnership with the local mental health department. It isn’t clear whether these services were in place at the time Gonzalez’ book was written, in 2003.
While I was inspired by Gonzalez’ stories and by her example of faithful prayers for help and healing, this book did strengthen my belief that Biblically-based homeless ministries must include clinical components to ensure the effective treatment of mental illness and substance abuse disorders among the homeless folks we seek to serve.
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Commission Votes “Yes” On South Elm Redevelopment
The Greensboro Redevelopment Commission voted unanimously to accept the South Elm Street Redevelopment Plan at a special called meeting tonight at Shiloh Baptist Church on Eugene Street. A crowd gathered for the public hearing and presentation of the plan. There were a few speakers in support of the plan and some questions from the audience before the vote was taken.
The plan calls for a mix of residential and retail on a 10-acre tract, including 63 affordable housing units. (The presentation also included discussion about a larger 75-acre “corridor” that extends southward from the tract to be developed.) Redevelopment of the 10-acre tract is expected to cost $11 million in public funds, much of that federal dollars, some of which has already been committed from sources such as HUD and the EPA. But there is a $4.6 million “funding gap” that will have to be made up with public funds. Responding to a question from the audience, a city staff member said that he did not expect a tax increase to pay for this project.
The city expects to use $300K from the HUD CDBG grant and $790K from the HUD Home Program, plus $3.5 million in certificates of participation to make up the gap in funding. (I asked if that was new HUD money or something we already get. It’s not new, but it wasn’t clear which programs would lose funding if this money is reallocated.)
Cleanup and site prep could start as soon as 2007, with the project to be completed in 2011. The redevelopment plan will generate $50 million in private investment. The current tax value is $1.9 million.
Because this is a brownfields redevelopment site, there was a question about the level of cleanup. The answer was that there would be some level of remediation, but probably not complete removal, and it would be based on the usage of the property and negotiations with the state. Follow-up question: Do you know how expensive it’s going to be? Answer: “We have a good idea of what we need to do,” but “no firm price.”
I told the commission that all of the streets in the redevelopment area are streets we visit each week on Night Watch, and we find homeless people hanging out and sleeping at locations all over that area. I then asked about the homeless folks who will be displaced by the redevelopment. There was an audible rumbling in the audience behind me, where some of the neighbors were sitting, but no one spoke up. A commission member acknowledged that the issue had been raised, but didn’t answer the question, either. She commented that the homeless people didn’t actually live there and that they stayed in the area because of the homeless services available nearby.** (I absolutely understand the residents’ concern and I’m not against the redevelopment plan. I just know that if you move the homeless people out of that area, they still have to go somewhere. So if you’re planning for everything else, why not plan for them, too?)
Prior to voting, one of the commission members indicated that the following concerns raised by speakers and audience members would be addressed by the commission as they continued with the plan: 1) using “green” building materials for the project, 2) incorporating bike pathways, 3) considering a market rather than a chain grocery, and 4) considering the needs of the homeless individuals who will be displaced by the redevelopment.
Update, 08/23/06:
News & Record coverage,“South Elm Plan Clears First Step.”
**N&R quotes Nettie Coad: “It’s not like they have a house there. They’re just congregating there. If you minister to them there, that’s where they’re going to stay.”
The article also states that I “work with” Night Watch. To clarify, I’m a member of the all-volunteer Night Watch street outreach team.
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The Church v. Homelessness
My friends Jeff Phillips, Steve Still and I are praying and working together to find long-term, Biblically-based solutions to help move our homeless friends from the street to stability. N&R reporter Tina Firesheets spoke to all three of us while she worked on an article about our formerly-homeless friends Pete and Ricky. Some of those conversations led Tina to write a second article about the search for solutions to the problem of homelessness.
One of the things we all three touched on was the role of the Church (universal, the Body of Christ) in caring for the poor and the homeless. God’s heart for the poor is shown clearly throughout the Bible, as are our responsibilities to the poor and the homeless.
Homeless advocate Michele Forrest believes that if every church in Greensboro took just one homeless person under its wing, as Jeff Phillips has, that could go a long way toward getting people off the streets.
“We’ve got a church on every block, and we’ve got people sleeping behind them in the bushes because they can’t go anywhere else,” [Steve] Still says.
There are 1380 churches within a 20-mile radius of Greensboro. That includes churches in Greensboro, High Point, and Jamestown. Our summer homeless count totaled 734 people in Guilford County. The January count totaled 1108. (Winter counts are usually higher.) And all of those churches have members. And some of those churches have a lot of members. So if every church helps a homeless person in the process from street to stability, then… you do the math. 
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Pete & Ricky: “Homeless No More”
Remember Pete and Ricky? Their story of moving from under a downtown bridge to their own home to Glenwood is chronicled in a front-page Life section story in today’s News & Record. Reporter Tina Firesheets spent time with Pete and Ricky, and Jeff Phillips, who helped them make the move. And she joined us on Night Watch.
I now have a copy of the DVD of Pete and Ricky under the bridge and in their new home, but the file is too big to upload to YouTube. I don’t have video editing software to make it smaller or break it up into sections. Can anybody help? Email me, please.
>> See the Pete & Ricky video.
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