by Father Rory H. B. Harris, Special to the Herald
02.01.10 – 10:28 am
A “Point in Time” county census of the homeless in Seminole was taken Wednesday by volunteers for the Homeless Services Network, director Kathy Jackson, and the Sanford Hope Team.
Volunteers went to feeding/soup kitchen centers, camps in the woods, day-labor lines, and social-service agencies throughout the day to try to assess the actual numbers of homeless people living among us.
Being homeless in these difficult economic times poses many unique problems for those seeking shelter or a way out of their homeless predicament. Many stay with friends and family members but have no permanent place to call “home,” and are therefore, homeless.
Some live in their car or van. Some camp out in the woods. Others are in the limited amount of shelters and beds available. Others just try to find a warm corner in some alley or behind a trash dumpster. Some of the lucky ones are in affordable motels – families cramped together into one room.
Unfortunately, many of the homeless are children. Some 1,100 or more in Seminole schools are “homeless” but attend school. Their parent(s) have fallen on hard times, and have lost their jobs, home and sometimes their sense of dignity. It’s tough being a child trying to have any semblance of a child’s life while being homeless. Children who live in the camps in the woods are in danger of being molested by predators, not necessarily the homeless but others who prey upon them.
The purpose of the “Point in Time” countywide census was to try to get some data that could be analyzed and then used to seek grants-in-aid, federal or state monies, corporate grants – anything that could help some homeless person attain a safe place they could call “home.”
The surveys by volunteers will be collated and assessed by U.C.F. students under Dr. James Wright’s supervision to ensure that the information collected has no redundancies. The questionnaires asked for the surveyed person’s first/last initials (privacy issue), gender, year born, state born, and city/state where they became homeless. That’s enough variables to avoid duplications when the surveyed are collected and examined.
The results of this census will be released in mid-March. When this information becomes available, we will have at least a snapshot of what the face of homelessness is in Sanford and Seminole County. Hopefully, the information can be put to good use in applying for grants to help the homeless.
But the real question is what are we doing as a city to be a part of the solution to this increasing problem?
The Seminole Action Coalition Serving Our Needy has a meeting on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Episcopal Church. City residents are meeting to work on this issue and have already sponsored two coffee-and-dessert forums and two IDignity events, sponsor a weekly laundry service, and support feeding centers such as Grace ‘n’ Grits in their efforts.
While many of these efforts are helpful in addressing some basic needs of the homeless, the overall solution to this growing problem eludes us. Why? Perhaps we lack the political will and humane conscience to rethink our priorities as a city. We want a clean, safe, recreational, and business-friendly Sanford that is prospering and inviting. The homeless seem to be among us reminding that until we address “human issues,” that idyllic vision of Sanford will always elude us.
The city leadership continues to undertake worthy projects to enhance Sanford’s physical amenities: a proposed $1 million addition for Fort Mellon Park, another million or so for water cleanup and filtration, and more millions for other worthy projects – but not one dime toward alleviating homelessness.
As one concerned citizen, I would suggest that we refocus our priorities away from “things” to “people,” and fund a transformational center for the homeless and needy to help them get their lives back together. There is a cost to homelessness that each of us as taxpayers pay for emergency services provided, hospital ER attention, police hours, etc.
If we funded a $1 million transformational center with case managers to assist the homeless to overcome the obstacles they face, think of the huge tax costs that would save. There are fiscal savings to homeowners in tax relief for addressing and helping to solve the homeless issue.
It’s time to get our priorities straight and alleviate human (and children) suffering.
Father Rory H. B. Harris is rector of Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Sanford. Comments can be sent to FrRoryHolyCross@aol.com or Herald publisher Gene Kruckemyer at GKruckemyer@MySanfordHerald.com. Topics for The Sanford Herald’s Centennial Forum opinion series are chosen by the community writers.
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