by Gina DeMent, Public Information Officer
Five County Mental Health Authority
He came by the office of a local church and his only request was whether or not we had a sleeping bag he could borrow.
It was during one of our winter storms, and he needed some protection from the cold. He was a homeless man and had no place to go. He said he would be back. We had a sleeping bag in a collection of items which we had been given for a garage sale. We had it for him, but he never came back. Who knows where he is now?
Those are the kind of stories most of us hear about the homeless vagabonds who travel around. They come and they go. They sleep in the woods. They find the soup kitchens and get a meal. They beg for some money. But they are not the only homeless people in a community.
Woman and children make up a very large part of the current homeless population, but the shelters which we have in our four counties have found it necessary to establish limits on ages. There are no women’s shelters or family shelters that will take a woman and her over twelve year old sons. A homeless mother with teenage boys will have to have her family split up.
What do you call the people who have purchased their homes and have now lost their jobs? They are not homeless yet, but they cannot make the house payments. Foreclosure is coming. They may very well be homeless soon. Our area has had a horrible number of jobs lost. The number of people who may soon be homeless may put us in the same category as our unemployment rate.
Many people take for granted the many blessings that life has bestowed upon them, such as the gift of food and shelter. Some people are not as fortunate as others; they do not have the opportunity of enjoying a warm, fulfilling meal in a comfortable environment that shields them from the harsh, icy breath of winter.
In an ideal world, everyone has a roof overhead, clothes on their back, and food in their stomach. Reality shows us that this is not the case. We have many homeless in our area and need your help by getting involved in local organizations addressing this problem in our community.
Over the past six months, many groups from our community have been working to develop a men’s shelter in Henderson that will open this fall, if we have community involvement. This group has been diligently working, and there has already been impressive support from different corners of our community. For example, the First Presbyterian Church offered a heated space that could be used during the cold months of the year for the shelter. The Maria Parham Medical Center has offered to help with linens and laundry needs.
“If we are to have a men’s shelter open this fall, we need to have the participation of many more churches, civic groups and individuals. We will need volunteers to staff the shelter each night. We will need additional volunteers to prepare meals and deliver food,” said Joel Rice, Housing Specialist for Five County Mental Health Authority. “We will need churches and other organizations to help us collect needed supplies. We will need financial contributions to offset the operating costs. In order to provide this much needed men’s shelter, churches, businesses, community leaders, civic clubs, and interested citizens will all have to do their parts. This is a great opportunity for this community to work together for a cause that will benefit us all.”
Some of the ways for our citizens to get involved is to: volunteer at a shelter, soup kitchen or food bank; volunteer your professional talents or offer job training or employment; volunteer for a committee or organization that works with people experiencing homelessness; help build or fix up houses or shelters.
Citizens are invited to join the Kerr-Tar Homeless Coalition to End Homelessness or the Continuum of Care (COC), a collaboration of homeless service providers and advocates who meet monthly to address the needs of our homeless citizens in the five counties. The coalition is a representation of homeless advocates and service providers from our five neighboring counties which wants to build a network of all agencies and services that work with the homeless in order to insure that there is a safe place for every person every night.
If you wish to work with the homeless, know someone who is homeless, know of an agency working with the homeless, or if you would like to attend a coalition meeting, contact Joel Rice at 252.430.3073.