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8 die homeless in Greensboro in 2011

Michele (CM) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:29:35 +0000

Linda, Kenneth, Sharon, Victoria, Boyd, Wayne, Johnny, Vernon and "unknown"

December 21st is National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Locally, AmeriCorps Partnership to End Homelessness sponsored the Greensboro Homeless Memorial Walk from the Interactive Resource Center on East Washington Street to Grace Community Church on West Lee Street, where a Memorial Service was held at 6:15pm.

On the stage were a row of empty chairs with the names of those who died homeless in Greensboro in 2011 — Linda, Kenneth, Sharon, Victoria, Boyd, Wayne, Johnny, Vernon — along with a chair marked “unknown”, representing others we may not have known about. The empty chairs represent the dinner guests who are no longer with us there at the Wednesday night meal, but who we remember and honor at this yearly service.

Mayor Perkins, accompanied by Councilwoman Abuzuaiter, reads the proclamation.

Mayor Robbie Perkins, accompanied on the podium at Grace by City Council Member Marikay Abuzuaiter, read a proclamation declaring the day Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day in Greensboro. Both Mayor Perkins and Mrs. Abuzuaiter participated in the earlier Memorial Walk, as well. The service included music; the story, in poetry, of formerly-homeless outreach worker Melissa Gayle; and a message by Grace’s Shepherding Pastor Will Dungee. Following the memorial service, Grace’s weekly Community Fellowship Dinner was served to 200+ homeless and hungry guests.

Greenway progress leaves wood chips and memories at site of former homeless camps

Michele (CM) — Sat, 07 May 2011 20:18:51 +0000

I just received texts from a homeless friend who lives in a camp near the site of the next phase of Greensboro’s Downtown Greenway. A number of homeless camps in the path of the Greenway were cleared prior to construction. Homeless people have been living on the heavily wooded property for as long as I can remember, and I’ve done outreach there for years.

His texts:

Work has started on the Greenway here. What a transformation in less than 24 hours.

Trees’re gone. All chipped up. Big pile of wood chips.

I had hoped that they would save the large trees and not clear cut. I hoped they would be saved to enhance shade along the path.

Me, too. My friends and I have taken lots of photos there. I’m glad we did. It’s history now.

Coming soon: Photos of the same site minus the trees.

New Greensboro homeless day center nearing completion

Michele (CM) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 07:19:30 +0000

The Interactive Resource Center — Greensboro’s homeless day center — has been operating in a temporary location at 3015 E. Bessemer Avenue since its initial opening in January 2009. On March 3, 2009, Partners Ending Homelessness and the City of Greensboro held a news conference to make a major announcenent — a building at 407 E. Washington St. had been donated to be used as a permanent day center.

The new location was tentatively scheduled to open about six months later, in the fall of 2009, but lack of funds delayed opening. Fundraising efforts have continued over the past two years — homeless guests who regularly use the services of the IRC participated in many of those eventsÂ Â – and the day center has also received significant City and County funding. Construction inside the new location is moving along now, and the new IRC should be completed this month and open in April 2011.

Here are some photos of the interior re-construction:

photos courtesy of the IRC; used with permission

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