Activities and Opinions

In a surprise to no one who has been following the progress of Mayor Joe Boles' hand-picked commission on homelessness, Home Again St. Johns, there has been no word for months on a 10-year year plan to end homelessness.

It is now 17 months since Michael German of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness spoke in St. Augustine.

"Local mayors agree to 10-year homeless plan" -- St. Augustine Record, July 17, 2008:
Michael German, an Atlanta-based regional coordinator for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, told the crowd of about 150 at the Flagler College Auditorium that the typically cold-hearted, profit-driven private sector could benefit from the warm-hearted work of housing homeless people.

It is now a year since the mayor's commission started meeting.

"Opinion: Businesses best to lead homeless effort" -- St. Augustine Record, Feb. 15, 2009:
"We're not governmental, and we're not stakeholders. We're bankrollers. It is costing us more to ignore homelessness." That is St. Augustine Mayor Joe Boles' assessment of the impact of homelessness on businesses.

"Plans on track to curb homelessness" -- St. Augustine Record, May 31, 2009.

It's been seven months since the community was promised a plan, not a "paperweight" by the commission's chairperson. "How many "paperweights" started out with great enthusiasm and are now stacked on shelves in offices? We're confident this plan will be successful. Its leadership is in the hands of business leaders. They don't waste time. They're goal-setters and action oriented."

When People United to Stop Homelessness (PUSH), gave a presentation to the St. Johns County Commission in June 2009, they showed camps and migrant housing conditions and gave testimonies based on personal interactions with our homeless. Prior to the meeting, PUSH was assured by Jerry Cameron, Assistant County Administrator, that the Home Again St. Johns' report would be released in mid-December 2009. With that timetable in mind, PUSH volunteered to survey the county and provide the Home Again St Johns commission with some real numbers and locations of camps. This information could also be useful for both the point in time survey for HUD in January 2010 and the U.S. Census in March 2010.

After weeks of advance planning and mapping the county using topological and satellite images, volunteers spread out into the woods and rural areas as well as St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach, Ponte Vedra, Hastings and Armstrong. A pilot survey form and a count sheet, designed by the Center for Community Initiatives at University of North Florida, were used. This project was completed over a two-week period in November 2009 and a preliminary report is available on the PUSH Web site: www.pushsjc.org The Center for Community Initiatives offered to perform the statistical analysis and release a full report at a later date.

So there's now actionable data. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness has already provided a proven template for a Ten Year Plan, which has reduced homelessness in cities all across the nation by up to 40%. Home Again St. Johns needs to use this data and the already identified resources in our area and then acquire the necessary funding streams. Excuses about the economy and lack of funding don't wash: you don't get grant money without a clear, actionable plan.

After the massive destruction the "cold-hearted, profit-driven private sector" has wrought on our society, is it any surprise that "bankrollers" can't seem to come up with a plan to end homelessness? No, not to those of us who have been watching and waiting, along with the homeless and the impoverished, for the last year and a half.

-- Mary Lawrence
Originally appearing in the St. Augustine Record

Last year, PUSH’s "Santa" delivered gift bags for about 40 children at the Emergency Services Homeless Coalition’s transitional housing campus. This year we were approved for the same activity, had been cleared for 5:30 PM on December 14, 2009, had received a list of the children by first name, age and gender from the housing manager and had begun purchasing new gifts for the children.

The week of November 29, 2009, the PUSH coordinator for the gifts was contacted by the manager at the transitional housing and told not to come this year, as there were “many churches and the Junior League of St Augustine taking care of the kids and families this Christmas season.” PUSH contacted several area churches and the Junior League and could not find a single organization supporting these families with a holiday party and gifts.

PUSH is hearing from residents at the transitional housing campus that we are the ones pulling out from this activity, which is patently false. In an effort to counteract this lie, each family at the transitional housing is receiving the enclosed holiday card, as is the local print media and all five county commissioners. We will not tolerate this attack on our efforts to support the homeless community.

Because of this late cancellation, our donors have had to be contacted to request diversion of their donations to another group of families in need in our county and a huge amount of effort is being required to make changes to plans that had been in operation for over two months.

It’s unclear why the Emergency Services Homeless Coalition is rejecting the support of PUSH, particularly at this time of year and in these economic times. We hope that the families at the transitional housing campus are in fact being supported by other agencies and churches and that they have a joyous and peaceful holiday.

- Mary Lawrence

If you spent anytime downtown at the Plaza, you saw Bob. He usually sat alone at the north east end on a bench, long hair hidden under a knit cap no matter the weather, writing in his small notebook. It took me over a year to learn how to approach Bob and get him to look me in the eye and speak to me. When he did speak, you could hear an educated intellect in his language. From time to time, I’d notice the huge swelling of his hands and feet then he’d be missing for a week or so. I would later learn he’d been hospitalized to drain the fluid from his body only to return to downtown in hospital slippers to reclaim his bench. Once, clean shaven from a recent hospital release, I was shocked to see how young he really was. Over the course of the last two years, Bob had been taken to the hospital several times and then he died this year. Yes, Bob was homeless and his death was stoically accepted by the rest of the homeless community.

Even if you didn’t know Bob or don’t care one way or another about homeless people, the expensive, systematic and ultimately useless emergency medical care he received should concern you. Our community absorbed the cost of caring for Bob but we never followed through, to our communal moral disgrace. Housing First, with wrap around services to follow up on care, has been proven in cities all across the nation to not only be the most effective, cost efficient solution to chronic homelessness, it is the essential, moral one. Let’s hope the "Home Again St Johns" commission gets it right this time.

--Mary Lawarence
originally appearing in the St. Augustine Record, 08/31/09

For Valentines Day
my baby gave me
a bouquet of broccoli

gleaned from the dumpster
behind the upscale deli
aside the weapons manufacturing plant.

She wants for me
to live another day
so we can cuddle

against the cold,
against the emptiness,
against the hard earth,

for one more frightful night
together
under the singing bridge.

--Tom Santoni

2008 started out with our high energy level slamming into the usual official indifference.

In January, PUSH met with the city of St Augustine to explain our organization and request a seat at the table in upcoming roundtables on homeless solutions. After a few scheduling mishaps, we met with John Regan and were promised such a seat at forthcoming roundtables and a full accounting of the $15,000.00 allocated to St Francis House in a three month pilot program to house 30 extra homeless people during the months of November and December 2007 and January of 2008. The paperwork provided was incomplete and did not fully account for the money. An attempt at outreach to the Marketplace, a network of community leaders and business people, went unheeded at their January 08 luncheon meeting at Carrabas.

In February PUSH was riveted by a presentation by Zollie Goodman from Iraq Veterans Against the War. Zollie noted the numbers of young homeless veterans, many with post traumatic stress disorder, who are not receiving needed services, and who are prone to suicide and addiction related problems. He advised of the upcoming Winter Soldier event in Washington in March where veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq will recount their experiences to the public. Many in the PUSH meeting were moved to tears by his account. PUSH also researched two very successful faith based programs and presented outreach materials to members willing to approach local churches. PUSH also attempted to attend a board of directors meeting of the Emergency Services Homeless Coalition but was told the meetings were private.

March saw 2 PUSH members attend the statewide Homeless Advocacy days in Tallahassee on their own dime. Meetings were held with the aides for Senators King and Hill and members were able to garner fifteen private minutes with State Representative Proctor.

April was a real month of renewal for PUSH. The new PUSH website: www.pushsjc.org was unveiled. It’s an incredible source of information and resources for our area, well designed and beautiful. Members aligned themselves with the Society of St Andrews gleaning project and went out for the rest of the year, gleaning and bringing back to St Augustine literally thousands of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to needy agencies and Food Not Bombs. Also in April, members were treated to presentations by Bob Balch of the Green Home Store who plans for smaller, affordable green housing units and Bill Lazar, from the St Johns Housing Partnership, who gave members an insightful overview of zoning and funding challenges. Secretive plans for the relocation of the new St Francis Shelter caused concern among all present.

In May, Ryan Day, who spent his semester break living as a homeless person and Amy Simpson, who did her senior thesis on perceptions of homelessness in St Augustine, presented the results of their research. Members were fascinated by both students’ indepth work and analysis of results. Both had post graduate plans for continuing their service work.

June saw PUSH presenting to the Democratic Womens Club, continuing gleaning work and supporting Food not Bombs and other county agencies with fresh vegetables. While PUSH suspended meetings over the summer, the steering committee continued to meet and plan for the fall. Members attended the Mayor’s open forum on Homelessness in July where the regional director for the US Interagency Council on Homelessness presented the outlines of a 10 year plan adopted by over 300 US cities. Mayors Boles and Obrien signed a proclamation to participate. The regional director, Michael German, was to return later in the year to continue the process. To PUSH’s knowledge, he has not. Members scheduled two meetings: one with Representative Proctor who promised to look into concerns and get back with us and despite numerous phone calls, never did and the other with County Commissioner Bryant, who provided PUSH with the history of the county’s attempt to address the homeless issue and the demise of the original planned shelter generously drawn up by architect Howard Davis.

In September, Memorial Presbyterian Church hosted 4 very well attended forums on homelessness with numerous presenters and attendance ranging to 100 people, including members of the homeless community. PUSH members attended all 4 and 2 members applied to be on the board of the new shelter, to no avail. Having been excluded from any discussions of the secret shelter, this was not a surprise. It is
also not a surprise that the shelter is now a non starter due to the huge cost. Also in September PUSH members presented two programs for homeless veterans to the veterans council. We received a cold reception for the two PUSH endorsed programs to help homeless veterans by the Veterans Council. The programs, Vets for Vets and Give an Hour, are low cost, hands on solutions. (Program descriptions on PUSH website). PUSH met with the sheriff separately and received a positive response from Sheriff Shoar who realizes a community can’t arrest homelessness. PUSH acquired a beautiful logo from Lindsey Buechler, Flagler graphic student and the design has been incorporated into ads, website and business cards. PUSH also participated in Memorial Presbyterian Church’s CROP walk for hunger. Also, plans were laid in October for PUSH to support the fifth consecutive year of St Augustine Food not Bombs. PUSH members contributed food and flyers and set up luminaries all around the downtown gazebo to celebrate the end of the first Annual March of the Impoverished. On November 10th, over 100 homeless, church members and citizens marched down St George Street from the Visitors Center to the plaza to share a huge Food not Bombs serving. The event was a huge success. Despite press releases, the Record chose not to cover the event and the Folio gave a short accounting ending with irrelevant statements by the Director of St Francis House, who had nothing to do with the event.

Also in November, PUSH learned of yet another secret meeting the Mayor was holding to formulate a steering committee to generate a 10 year plan to end homelessness. An unproductive plea to John Regan for PUSH to attend, as promised, any roundtable discussion on homelessness, necessitated 2 PUSH members crashing the breakfast meeting to take notes. PUSH, Food not Bombs and several homeless citizens also made their presence known at the entrance to the Mayor’s second annual fundraiser for the homeless shelter by holding signs with homeless statistics and thanking the guests for attending. Food not Bombs served a great spaghetti dinner right outside the door as guests entered. To round out a busy year, PUSH volunteers assembled gift bags for the 46 children living in transitional housing on Chapin Street in West Augustine. One member, dressed as a very credible Santa, called out the children's names and delivered their gifts on December 15th.

It’s been a great year. We’ve made a lot of connections and a lot of friends among the homeless in our area. We’ve learned a lot about alternatives to standard government approaches to homelessness and we learned what works and what doesn’t in our area. Some of our homeless citizens are coming out of the shadows and woods and finding their voices. We are determined to continue supporting them and advocating for workable solutions based on the incredible resources of our members and our community. We are stronger and more determined than ever going into our third year.

Thank you, each and every one of you, who made this year such a success.

--Mary Lawrence