Activities and Opinions

Homeless Stand Down August 28, 2010 0900-1400 Hours St Augustine Elks Lodge A1A (on the island) Services provided are free-to name a few: „« Eligibility for veterans benefits ¡V obtain DD-214 „« Enrollment in VA Health Care ¡V health screenings „« Service connected benefits ¡V initial claims filings „« Clothing, food, showers, door prizes and much more If you will require transportation please call 209.1299 Sponsored by the St Johns County Veterans Council Please plan to attend ¡V lots of giveaways!!

Story in the Record

Mike Davis, head of the mayor’s homeless commission (Home Again St Johns) welcomed about 30 people to the meeting at the Record at 9AM.

The new printed street card was passed out for edit/approval. No changes were made. If unlisted organizations want to be listed, information needs to be emailed to David Hoak davidhoak@firstcoastunitedway.org  who will include in the next run. The Record formatted and printed a run of 500 and David will provide the .pdf file for distribution to any related website for download.

The point in time homeless survey (required by HUD) will be conducted on January 25, 2011 from 530AM to 8PM. A general overview will be presented at the ESHC meeting on September 16, 2010 at noon at the First United Methodist Church, corner of King and Riberia. The first training will be conducted on January 20, 2011 at First United Methodist at noon with another scheduled for 530PM for volunteers who work. UNF will send volunteers and do the final report as in the past. It was noted by several agencies that the homeless count has only varied by one the past two years.

It was suggested that organizations serving food to the homeless generate a data chart of numbers fed over time to gain insight into ebb and flow of homeless in and out of St Augustine. This could be a topic for the next PUSH, Feed the People, JustFaith or FNB meeting as it will require coordination among multiple groups. Ellen Walden researched several social services databases and noted a 7% increase in services to homeless over the last year. It’ll be interesting to see if the point in time notes only one more homeless person again this year.

Mike Davis noted the need for a committee to organize the homeless services outreach event scheduled for January or February 2011.

Heather Williams invited everyone to the Veterans’ Outreach at the Elks Lodge on August 28th from 9AM to 2PM for a sample of what this entails. Mary Lawrence noted that the US Interagency Council on Homelessness presented the template for this activity 2 years ago at the big meeting at Flagler auditorium and that at that time, Mr Michael German was offering assistance to the community. Mary did not see any reason to re invent the wheel and David Hoak will contact him for support.

Mike Davis noted only four civic groups attended the business committee meeting 8/18/10 and that he is experiencing difficulty getting local business involved.

 Heather Williams offered table space at the Veterans Day event on 11/11/10 at Francis Field. Email David Hoak if your organization would like space here. It’s free. Group decided to observe the stand down on 8/28 before moving forward. .

SIFE from Flagler was aptly represented by the president, co-president and project specialist. These are students who have taken on the project of converting shipping containers into low income housing and have secured a site on Record property and are working with Home Depot for furnishing supplies. Estimated cost: 13k. Their advisor noted they are also seeking a 250k Pepisco grant, the award is based on voting via a website. (info to be forwarded later) Ben Coney offered support on zoning issues. Group indicated a location in West Augustine as a possible factory site with employment for that community. For more information or to offer assistance: sifepresident@flagler.edu.

Jerry Cameron, Assistant county administrator, described the outcome of the ad hoc group to determine best entry point for homeless people entering our community. The group agreed on a single entry point for services and that the county social services department would be the best choice. He noted some changes need to be made within the department and then went further to indicate his excitement and confidence that this current homeless providers group will come up with a solution, albeit not everyone will get everything they want.

Any group doing fundraisers in the near future should email the information to David Hoak for inclusion on the agenda for the next meeting: September 16, 2010 at 9AM. Ron Davidson, Record publisher, noted they have multiple opportunities for event notification and will bring a list to the next meeting.

Meeting adjourned around 1030AM. These are not minutes; they are for information for PUSH members.