Correspondent writers
TAMPA, Fla. -- Situated on Floribraska Avenue in Tampa, there is a city block where hope and despair share an inseparable bond.
Homeless Helping Homeless, a shelter organized and run by homeless men and women, is a last resort for those who find themselves without a place to live.
“When you have 30 or 40 people looking for the same job, your hopes start to go down,” said Gayle Bailey, 53, who prefers to be addressed as Ms. Gayle. “Of course you can’t meet your bills and where do you end up?”
There are more stories of despair here than one could comprehend, but with every story comes a grain of hope, in the form of a shelter where individuals, in the same situation, come together to help one another.
Ms. Gayle, who has been a resident at the shelter for three months, holds several positions of responsibility.
“I do their fundraising,” said Ms. Gayle. “And I work for vehicle title.”
The organization was founded in 2008 when a local man, Adolphus Parker, 40, opened up his residence to a local homeless woman. He continued to work with the area’s homeless population, working with them to develop Homeless Helping Homeless.
“This one lady came up to his door,” said Ms. Gayle. “Christian man that he is, he took her in.”
That one act has grown into a multi-building complex, where homeless men and women who have exhausted all other options can find shelter, storage for their possessions and food.
Hillsborough County issues vouchers to people who have recently lost their jobs and are forced to live on the street for various reasons. These vouchers allow them to stay at the Salvation Army from a week up to 30 days.
Once the voucher expires, however, they must look for other options.
“I’ve never been in this situation before,” said Laura Miller, 56, of Tampa. “It wasn’t drugs or alcohol, I just lost my job.”
At that point, people often end up at the doorsteps of a small, brick building in an area of Tampa that often gets overlooked.
At first glance it appears to be an average house in need of a few repairs. A low, chain-linked fence separates street from sidewalk, and the awning of the roof extends out, shading an unkempt porch.
On the outside there is nothing that makes this house stand out from any of the other houses on the same block. It is what is inside and in the backyard that makes it different.
Upon arrival at the house, guests must ring a doorbell before being welcomed inside.
Once inside, they enter into a living room, furnished with a couple of sofas and a television, all donations. Across the room there is a kitchen with a refrigerator.
Ms. Gayle leads the way through these rooms and out the back door into a yard littered with leaves, fallen from tall trees, lying dry and crisp on the ground.
“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” said Ms. Gayle as the leaves crumbled under her feet.
As she crossed the yard, on the way to the women’s building, she motioned toward a particular tree, situated near the back of the yard.
“We have two favorite raccoons, actually three, that live in that tree,” she said.
She recited a story about how the raccoons would sometimes enter into the house in search of food. One had even hissed at her when she asked it to leave.
Further along the way she points out an RV motor home. She tells a story of a family from England who were unable to secure a work visa, so they used the RV as a temporary residence.
Randy Elton, 43, moved from Michigan to Florida in search of work. In January he was faced with no other choice than to turn to Homeless Helping Homeless to keep a roof over his head.
“I’ve lived here since January and I was put on staff in March,” said Elton. “The people here really help you out.”
The residents each have various responsibilities.
They all do their share to raise funds to improve the facilities and keep food in store.
“You never can say what skills a person has, despite their plight, because when you come here this is your last stop,” said Ms. Gayle.
Residents skilled in various trades, including janitorial workers, electricians and maintenance workers offer their expertise to the community in exchange for compensation that then goes toward rent and other amenities at the shelter.
Those who are unable to offer such skills contribute by fundraising efforts.
Stationed on medians and sidewalks across Hillsborough County, adorned in florescent orange construction jackets, residents at Homeless Helping Homeless solicit donations from people walking by or stopped in their cars at the intersection.
“We have the rights to solicit for fundraising,” said Ms. Gayle, citing the difference between the residents at Homeless Helping Homeless and others that she described as “holding up cardboard signs.”
Fundraisers are allowed to keep 25 percent of the money that they bring in, while the remaining 75 percent goes toward goes toward various projects at the shelter, including 200 new storage compartments that allow residents to keep their belongings safe.
On October 15 work began on another project, a women’s and children’s shelter located within the grounds of the existing Homeless Helping Homeless complex.
The house that will eventually become the site of the new shelter was purchased with money from donations and will be open soon.
The goal is for the new facility to provide a place for women to bring their children, so they are not separated from one another. The operators of the shelter have plans to continue to improve the current facilities and to develop new facilities.
Despite the tales of hardship, the residents of Homeless Helping Homeless provide one another with elements vital to survival in an uncertain world.
With projects still in the works and donations still coming into the shelter, residents of Homeless Helping Homeless hold out hope for a better future.
“It’s gotten better,” said Ms. Gayle, a smile formed across her face.
No comments:
Post a Comment