My friend Tim Hutchinson told me about this homeless day center in Dayton. He met a lady who used to work there. Check it out. Looking forward to having one here.
Read more on Day center: The Other Place…
About a year ago, chronically homeless people in Guilford County began moving from the street into permanent housing, with the help of housing support teams, as part of a state-funded pilot program. Dozens of my homeless friends have moved into housing. That is great and exciting, and I am thankful. However, as part of the program, they were promised supportive services, such as treatment for addiction disorders and mental illness, and they are supposed to have the help and assistance of “enhanced providers” in obtaining needed services. But that has not been the reality for many of my friends, and they have suffered as a result.
Read more on Article exposes problems with homeless housing initiative…
The Guilford County Substance Abuse Treatment Center, run by Bridgeway, has passed a state inspection and will be able to start admitting new clients again within 10 days. Admissions were suspended last month when inspectors found violations at the facility. This is great news and I’m very glad to hear it.
Read more on Update on county treatment center…
Housing is considered “affordable” if the occupant is paying no more than 30% of his/her gross income for housing costs, including utilities.
Fair market rent (FMR) is the maximum monthly rent that HUD allows for properties participating in its programs, such as Section 8.
Read more on What is affordable housing?…
On Friday, I heard from a Guilford County Schools employee that there are a number of students living at the Coliseum Inn. I already knew that there were children there, because we see them when we do outreach. The City has bought the property and will be closing the motel. City staff is exploring ways to assist those who will lose their housing when that happens. I met with staff in early August when I first heard of the potential sale.
Read more on Families and children will lose housing when City closes Coliseum Inn…
Vegetable crates and construction materials are stacked behind the recycling and trash cans beside the back porch at the HIVE. The basketball court is just a few feet away. Sometime this weekend, some of the neighborhood kids came by to play basketball, and noticed some long, thin PVC pipes lying along the back wall in this area.
Read more on From mayhem to redemption…
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.’”
– Matthew 26:26-27
In early August, I met with Andy Scott, director of the City’s department of Housing and Community Development, and members of his staff, to discuss how the City’s plans to buy the Coliseum Inn would affect the low-income and homeless people who stay there. Street outreach teams from NightWatch and DayWatch regularly visit the Coliseum Inn, and I feared that when the motel closed, most of the residents would have no place else to go. Our homeless shelters and housing programs are full. Our city lacks affordable housing. I assume that if the hundreds of people at the Coliseum Inn had someplace else to live, they’d probably already be living there.
Read more on City staff looking at ways to assist those who will lose housing in Coliseum Inn sale…
On Thursday afternoon, I went by to see friends on the block, at Lee and Eugene, and to let them know about dinner at the HIVE. One of my friends asked for help for his friend, who had just gotten out of the hospital. He’d had major surgery, and then been discharged back to the street, to the bridge where he’s lived for years. He has no job and no income, and was trying to find a way to get his medication, including the antibiotic to keep him from getting a post-surgical infection.
Read more on Homeless: Discharged to the street in Greensboro…
Our donated supplies for homeless outreach are really low. Right now, we don’t have enough to do NightWatch. We also use these supplies for DayWatch (next one coming up soon) and other outreach to the homeless through StreetWatch. (Learn more about all of those here.)
Read more on Please help: We need snacks and toiletries for street outreach…
It’s Friday, so I must be at the HIVE. People are here for the free food distribution. I put on an apron (photo 1) and Tim (photo 3) and I chopped up fresh vegetables and cooked up some soup (photo 2.) The aroma lured folks into the kitchen and they were waiting to eat when we put it on the table (photo 4.) The verdict: “It’s a keeper.”
Read more on Someone’s in the kitchen…
UPDATE: Read “Volunteers feed storm’s hungry,” from 09/22/2008 News & Record.
NightWatch took a late summer break so that team leaders could have vacation time off with their families. We expected to start back up at the beginning of September, but the disaster unit, which we use for NightWatch, has been on standby to respond to the recent hurricanes. Yesterday, Steve Still called to tell me that they were being deployed for Hurricane Ike. He and Kenneth Brown were to leave today to stage in Baton Rouge. So NightWatch will continue to be on hold for a while.
Read more on Hurricanes keep NightWatch on hold…