Activities and Opinions

The third meeting of the homelessness services providers took place two weeks later than schedule, on June 24 v June 10 at the Record conference room at 9AM.

New Home Again St Johns (mayor’s original commission on homelessness name) leader Mike Davis welcomed everyone and updated the worrisome and meager progress of the parallel business community group. He stated some business leaders have “hung in there” while others no longer attend and he is soliciting new members of the business community to work on this aspect of a community wide, comprehensive solution to homelessness. He feels this business group needs “reconfigured”.

Becky Stringer, from Betty Griffith House, went over a draft of a street card and agency brochure of updated and relevant services to our homeless. It is named “Opening Doors” after the recently released US Interagency Council on Homelessness ten year plan, available on their website: www.usich.gov Good luck with this; it’s 75 pages .pdf. Members of this group provided corrections and suggestions and it’s back to the drawing board, for the second time.

Mary from PUSH noted the scarcity of listed faith based groups serving the homeless on the draft brochure. Mike requested everyone email David Hoak davidhoak@firstcoastunitedway.org with name and contact for any group serving food, providing services from the faith based community. David noted, after three months, we are still in early stages. Darrell Chauncy, when addressed by Mary, admitted Memorial Presbyterian is serving homeless dinners once a month. Ann Breidenstein, UW, noted these organizations should also go on the 211 help line list.

Mike Davis suggested agencies consider being linked to United Way website.

St Augustine Police Department discussed their family reunification program, which provides money for transportation to send people home to a verified family member at the destination. Must have no outstanding warrants and a receiving party. 825.1070

Renee Morris, St Francis House, was asked for an update on the relocation. She noted they were in the permitting process, that Vets 4 Vets were working with them and that county sheriff is considering a substation at the new location. She regaled the group with another success story, although the man is since deceased.

Mary noted the homeless services providers group probably is busy and is doing good work helping people, but with heat indexes in the 100’s, bugs and snakes in the woods, there does not seem to be a sense of urgency in our mission and at our meetings.

Diane Gilbert noted it would be helpful if the structure of any projects was already aligned with the federal guidelines released in the USICH report.

Melissa Strohminger, Betty Griffin House, gave a live presentation of the Homeless Management Information System, an updated and easy to use database to track homeless services. Required by federal and state for funding, she encouraged agencies present to get trained and use the database to facilitate reporting and spur funding opportunities. Several agencies noted they use their own databases and do not have personnel to do double entry.

Bishop Ian Anderson, Resurrection Episcopal Protestant diocese, noted frustration with lack of response to the many different churches he’s contacted for the last 18 months in an effort to coordinate services provided by the faith based community. David Hoak asked again for interested faith based groups to be made aware of and invited to these meetings via an email to him. (see above)

Jerry Cameron, Assistant County Administrator in charge of services, noted the need for a central entry point for services and set up a sub committee to identify the best place for newly homeless arrivals to get help.

Meeting adjourned around 10:15AM.

We truly are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such great women! Kathy Tufano who helped serve is with JCP CARES, Nancy McAlum provided the food as an individual and Kim Casper, her daughter and Pat along with their church, Swiss Cove Christian provided all the bags of groceries (50) for the local families and workers and served the food, including many side dishes they made. Mary from Catholic Charities brought fresh fruit and snacks. PUSH members Cyndi Tulpell, Terry Buckenmeyer and Mary Lawrence brought bread and ice to supplement the many cases of soda provided by these groups as well as delivering clothing and supplies. Malinda ran a huge grill operation, barbequing tons of chicken for the main course. We all had a great time even though the rains hit and we all got soaked.

This is a homeless services providers meeting that works alongside the business community’s parallel committee. Home Again St Johns is the name given to the mayor’s commission to end homelessness, which he formed in November 2008.

The business group went nowhere for over a year, losing its chair, and holding meetings of sub committees where assigned “leaders” did not even bother to show up. Now they have a new chair, Mike Davis, who seems energized and ready to take on the challenge. As posted earlier, when I asked at the last meeting of the services providers, on a scale of 1 to 10, what progress was being made on the business side, Mike didn’t hesitate to say “2”. Not a good sign.

Now, 48 hours in advance of the services providers meeting (only a monthly event anyway), with the promise of a services “street card” and a booklet for providers to distribute, plus a demonstration of the HMIS software by Allie, who is proficient and volunteered to present, the meeting was postponed for TWO WEEKS with no reason given.

I look at everyday that people sleep outside in the heat, with the bugs and the rain and the animals as a crisis. I look at everyday when people are losing their homes, getting out of prison with no prospects or support or just needing food for their families or decent clothes to apply for jobs as a crisis.

Where is the urgency of these commissions, these agencies, these “leaders”? It seems like since they are not affected directly, having jobs and homes and food, it can all wait another two weeks. What’s another two weeks?

This is unacceptable to me and should be unacceptable to anyone with a moral conscience.