“Greensboro Public Library (GPL), NC, is a good example of how programming to serve the homeless and low-income users can be sustained by vital partnerships and a strong commitment to service. It also demonstrates the importance of listening closely to the program’s target users.

Every Monday from December to March meals are served at the library. These mealtimes, called the Winter Series, are attended by 50 to 60 people, most of whom are homeless. Of those not homeless, some are low-­income folks who use the meal as a way to save money while others are there for the companionship. What started as a pilot program is now a standard, continuing despite the loss of the librarian who was a coleader.”

>> Read all of “The Problem Is Not the Homeless” at LibraryJournal.com.

Thank you to all who continue to make this program a success and a service to the homeless in Greensboro! A special thanks to Jennifer Worrells, the GPL employee who assisted volunteers in starting the Winter Series, and to Greensboro Food Not Bombs, for providing the weekly meal (year-round, not just winter) for homeless and hungry people!

I didn’t know Ronald well; Marshall knew him better.  Ronald ate at the weekly community dinners at our church, Grace Community, at the Food Not Bombs dinners at the library on Monday nights, and we’d seen him on NightWatch.  I remember him as being very polite and quiet, not much of a talker, but always smiling and thankful for the meals we served.

I talked to my friend and ministry partner Audrie last night, when I found out about the accident, and again after I found out that he died.  We are both shocked and sad.  I’m praying for the young lady who hit him.  I can’t imagine how traumatizing that must be for her.  That’s a very dangerous stretch of road for pedestrians to cross.  We tell our NightWatch volunteers to be very careful when they leave the parking lot at night, because there are a lot of people walking and crossing the road in that area, and it’s dark and hard to see them.  This is just so, so sad.

LORD, be with the family, and with our friends who knew Ronald, and give them comfort and peace…

**UPDATE: Just got a phone call. Although news reports say Ronald died at the hospital, witnesses tell me that Ronald died at the scene. Based on what they saw, they believe that he was killed instantly or died within minutes. I hope that this is true, because it means that he probably didn’t suffer. One of his friends tells me, “He had a lot of friends… He was well-liked on the street.” Also, he used to fly a sign right off of Westover Terrace, by the elementary school, so you may have seen him. I’ll try to get a picture of him.

Then my friend came and sat on the couch beside me, and a group of us talked about the emergency winter shelter situation.  A currently homeless friend — who has been feeding other homeless people with take-home food from his catering job — sat on the other side of me, and they talked about helping homeless people. She told him about buying and cooking food and taking it to homeless people who sleep under bridges. This Thanksgiving, she’s planning to cook a turkey and invite anyone who doesn’t have a place to go — homeless or homed — to come and eat.  I have a place to go, but I think I’d rather be there.

I was with another homeless friend last night who is constantly gathering things for other homeless or hungry people — clothes, furniture, resources.  She cooks and serves with FNB.  She volunteers with DayWatch.  She is consistent, reliable and tireless.  She puts others first and herself last.  Always.  I am in awe of her.  I love her.

I’ve spent a big part of my day with another close friend, who is formerly homeless.  He devotes most of his time to feeding homeless and hungry people, through FNB.  Every time we have a crisis and need to mobilize and feed or serve people, he’s there.  Whenever we do DayWatch, he’s there.  When I need someone to move furniture, clean and organize spaces, shop for bulk stuff and load it on my truck, or just talk through the moving parts of street outreach ministry, he is there — consistent and faithful.  He’s my friend.  And he’s a friend to homeless and hungry people in Greensboro.

I like to help people, to serve people, to do things for people. But I also have the gift of a family who makes sure that I always have everything that I need. (Not want, but definitely need.) So I am operating and giving out of an abundance. My currently and formerly homeless friends, who are the experts on homelessness because they are or have been homeless (I am not an expert, just a  grateful friend of the experts), are giving and serving out of all that they have.  Every day, they teach me what sacrifice means.  I cannot express to you how thankful, how honored, how overwhelmed I am to have these friends in my life.  I hope that you have friends like mine.  If not, I’d love to introduce you to mine sometime.  I’m so not worthy of them, and yet so thankful that they keep letting me hang around.

I called the church, but our congregational nurse is on vacation. I emailed a contact at HealthServe, hoping he’d been there, but haven’t heard back yet. I’m not even sure if they can tell me, because of privacy laws. I’m hoping they were able to help him get his meds. I can’t imagine sleeping under a bridge after having major surgery.

Later, I went on over to the HIVE and cooked dinner with the Food Not Bombs folks. As I was leaving to go meet friends at Ganache, I got a call from one of the downtown cops, who wanted to know if we had any food left. He was with a hungry homeless man who’d just been released from jail, and he wanted to know if I could bring him something to eat. So Tim filled a grocery bag with containers of rice, gumbo, bread and fruit, and added utensils, napkins and bottled water. I went downtown and met them, and gave the man the bag of food. He was so thankful to receive it. I talked to him about where to go to get some other things that he needed, and then I went on to meet my friends.

Later in the evening, the downtown cops encountered another homeless man, who’d just been discharged from the hospital. He was from out of town and had no money and nowhere to go. So I tried to help them find a place for him to sleep. First, I called Greensboro Urban Ministry and explained the situation. But all their beds were full. Then I called the Salvation Army. No bed for him there, either. There are no other emergency shelter options for homeless men in Greensboro.

I talked to him for a little while and found out that he’d come to Greensboro from out of state, looking for work. And I told him, quite honestly, that he’d probably picked the wrong place to look. The lack of work has been a central topic of discussion for a while lately among my homeless friends, and we’d been talking about it earlier in the day, on the block and at the HIVE. Jobs — even temp work — are few and far between. The man said he’d probably try to go back where he came from.

I told him that there were no shelter beds available and that I didn’t have any other options for him to sleep inside, but I knew of a place he could sleep outside that would be comparatively safe. It was a ways away from where we were, so a patrol officer came by to give him a ride, and we asked him to drive by the places that serve breakfast and lunch, which were on the way, so that the man would know where he could eat in the morning. He asked for a blanket, and I didn’t have one. I carry them in my truck once it starts getting cold at night, and I hadn’t realized that the chilly nights are already here. I told him I could get him one tomorrow, knowing as I said it, how inadequate that was. He said he hoped to be gone by tomorrow. And then he got in the police car and they pulled away.

One of the remaining officers looked at me and said, “I feel like we just failed him. As a city, that we failed him.” Yeah, me too.

Hospitals discharge people to the street. Jails discharge people to the street. Part of our ten year plan to end homelessness is supposed to include discharge planning to prevent people from being sent from a hospital or jail to the street. But if the shelters are full and there’s no other housing, then what do you do? Hospitals and jails are not housing providers. Shelters only have so many beds. Cops shouldn’t have to be social workers. I don’t know what the answer is. I just know that I agree with my cop friend. I feel like we failed that guy. And we failed the guy who had surgery and got sent back under a bridge without his medicine. And there are so many more like them…

1.) I’m very thankful for the “housing first” initiative that is moving chronically homeless people from the street to permanent housing, but… I’m growing increasingly frustrated with the all-too-frequent staff and program changes among community support providers, as well as the limitations of available mental health services. (I know — money, money, money — but still…) Giving chronically homeless people an apartment is great, but being homeless isn’t the root problem — it’s a symptom of other problems. How do we define “success?” More homeless people in apartments than on the streets? Or more lives transformed? (I know how I define it…)

2.) We had another day center meeting today. There’s some exciting, forward movement involving players and places, some of which was revealed in the meeting today, but none of which I think I’m supposed to write about yet, so that’s all I’ll say about that for now. I hope to see more involvement from currently and formerly homeless people at future meetings, and I spoke up about that. (I know! Imagine ME speaking up… )

The desire of the homeless folks and homeless advocates that I’ve spoken to is to have currently and formerly homeless people be directly engaged in planning and running the day center. (Repairers of the Breach is a model of this kind of day center.) We can have bureaucracy or we can build community, but I don’t think we can do both. I’m going to keep advocating for and working toward community. (And I have some kindred spirits in that effort.)

P.S. It was a lunch meeting, and the leftovers (BBQ and chicken) went to Food Not Bombs for tonight’s dinner at St. Mary’s. That’s usually a vegan meal, and I have some friends who were no doubt happily surprised. (No offense, vegans. I don’t do BBQ or fried chicken, either.)

3.) After the day center meeting, I went downtown to see some of the bike cops from GPD’s Center City Resource Team. One had called to tell me about the death of a homeless man whose camp I first visited with police officers during a homeless count. (Very sad. I hope to share more soon.) Another had called to ask me to meet with a homeless man who just got out of jail and wants help so that he doesn’t end up back behind bars. (Please pray for him!) In the few minutes that I stood outside talking to the officers, I counted more than half a dozen homeless friends walking by or sitting on benches along Elm Street. Hopefully, I’ll soon be seeing them at a day center. And instead of sitting around or walking aimlessly, they can become active participants in a life-transforming community.

4.) A group of high schoolers from Westover Church went out and did street outreach today. They did a water distribution in the downtown/Lee Street area where our homeless friends hang out. I wasn’t able to ride along this time , but I heard through the grapevine that their efforts were much appreciated.

» Read about their previous outreach.

Of particular interest to me is this, about funding:

“Several City Council members have expressed willingness to spend city funds to help launch the day center. On Tuesday, when the council votes on the 2008-09 budget, council members will decide whether to save $200,000 of housing money that could be used as startup funding.”

I don’t believe that’s “new” money. I think that $200K would come from existing housing funds, and I don’t know where it’s currently allocated. Hmmm…

Update: I called Andy Scott at the City (HCD) to ask about the $200K, and got some good news. It would come from existing housing funds, but it’s from an unallocated fund balance, so it wouldn’t take money from any current housing or homeless programs. Andy gave me a detailed explanation about the funds and the process. I should have taken notes. Watch tonight’s Council meeting for more.

Armed with stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs, medical staffers from the HealthServe Community Clinic paid a visit to this week’s Winter Series at the downtown library. While diners enjoyed the vegan meal prepared by members of Food Not Bombs, they also had the chance to talk with a nurse and have their vital signs checked. Brochures on the tables described the clinic’s services for uninsured and underinsured Greensboro residents.

Many of the guests at the Winter Series are homeless, and HealthServe is their primary source of health care. One of the guys sitting by me at dinner was skeptical that the clinic would really provide services for people with no money. (Yes, they really will.) But after he agreed to have his blood pressure checked and he got a good report from the nurse, we did manage to get a smile out of him.

» HealthServe brochure

The idea behind the series of the meetings is to allow homeless people to speak out and advocate for themselves, and to let those with the power to make changes to the system know what’s working and what’s not working in the system from the perspective of those who are accessing services. The first meeting produced tangible results within days — changes are being made to the way that unsheltered homeless people access care at HealthServe.

Last night’s first question was about programs for unemployed single men who don’t have substance abuse or mental health issues — who are just unemployed. The perception is that there are more programs for women. (I’m not sure that’s true, though.) This was more a question for the homeless coalition than the County folks, though, so I offered to ask them and get back to him.

One homeless woman is new to Greensboro from out of state. She is a nurse and needs to get her license transferred here so that she can work, but she doesn’t have the money. She said that she’s not looking for a handout, just a “hand up.” She said that if someone would help her she is willing to “pass on the blessing,” and that she is willing to volunteer.

She also asked about transportation, which was covered in the previous meeting at the library. One gentleman spoke up and and gave the phone number for the county’s transportation service and mentioned that the list has been posted at the Weaver House shelter as well.

One man spoke about the need to “to get the monkey off your back” — referring to addiction — before you can work or get housing. He talked about his own struggle with crack cocaine, about spending seven months in rehab to get clean, and said that he was offered a job by the state of Georgia, where he was then living, because no one else would hire him. That job obviously made a big difference in his life, and his story emphasized the need for substance abuse treatment and for employers who will give second chances to people with criminal histories.

I asked how many people knew about Bridgeway, the new county treatment center that’s just opened. Few people raised their hands. Bridgeway will eventually offer medical detox, intensive outpatient treatment, and residential rehabilitation services. Joe Fortin from Guilford Center explained how to access services at Bridgeway by calling Guilford Center’s toll-free 24-hour phone number: 1-800-853-5163.

A woman asked about the needs of homeless youth and said, “They don’t need to be with older people.” She talked about their need for education, employment, health care and help dealing with sexual abuse that happens after they become homeless. She talked about homeless teens turning to prostitution. She stressed the need for a specific shelter and specific services for homeless youth — which we do not have now. As the woman spoke, a very recently homeless young lady was kneeling beside me, listening intently. A Christian ministry just moved her off the street, where she had been on and off since her early teens. After hearing the older woman speak passionately about the needs of homeless youth, the young lady looked up at me and said, “Well, I guess she covered it all. I’m going to go.” She seemed relieved.

The subject of a day center for homeless people came up again, and there does appear to be momentum on this issue, although Gibson said that it wouldn’t happen overnight. A formerly homeless gentleman asked, “How long? Three years, a lot of them be dead.” Another man spoke up and said that if money was the issue holding up the creation of the day center, then homeless people themselves could get involved in fundraising: “Bake sale, chicken, fish fry!” The group applauded in agreement. Liz Seymour of Food Not Bombs then invited the group to an upcoming meeting about a day center at the HIVE. It will be “for homeless people and by homeless people.”

After about an hour of dialogue, the group moved next door for Grace’s weekly community dinner, where the conversation continued during the meal. Stay tuned…

Bellamy-Small urged the group to attend City Council meetings and share their concerns during the public comment period. Gibson vowed to come back again and bring fellow Commissioners and County staff, to hear more and find solutions. Matheny stayed late and answered questions. It was a good evening. I look forward to seeing what comes next.

» Previously

Also: “Permission,” Liz Seymour; “Why Greensboro Needs A Homeless Day Center,” Jordan Green at the YES! Weekly blog.

“Which is more important: feeding hungry people or the law? If you ask yourself the question over and over again it becomes like that little place on the wall where the paint has buckled. Curious, you pick at the bubble one day and discover that the plaster underneath is cracked…”

They’re asking (and answering) that question down in Florida, too. A member of Orlando’s Food Not Bombs has been found not guilty on charges that he violated a city ordinance against feeding the homeless. FNB members in West Palm Beach also continue to feed the homeless, despite the recent passage of a city ordinance against it there, as well.

Feeding hungry people shouldn’t have to involve legal drama. But too often, it does.