Again: Where Would These People be Without Christian Organizations?

Freeze puts bite on aid, resources

By DEBORAH CIRCELLI
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH — As volunteers stocked the pantry behind them, Nadine McLaurin sat with her 3-year-old daughter wondering where they will sleep the rest of the week.

The Daytona Beach mother was taking refuge inside the Halifax Urban Ministries offices as agency leaders worked with other groups in the area to find a more permanent solution for her, her daughter and 6-year-old son.

"We are very concerned about this young family," said the Rev. Troy Ray, the agency’s executive director. "Our primary focus is to try to find a positive, permanent solution for this family to be off the street."

McLaurin, 44, was one of more than 100 homeless people staying in cold weather and emergency shelter earlier this week and Tuesday night.

After staying at a Port Orange church Monday night, she was taken with other homeless people to a church in Deltona on Tuesday where she and her children would stay in a separate room.

Homeless advocates said it’s unusual to have a mother with children show up with other homeless individuals seeking shelter on cold nights. This is the first time it’s happened in the seven years Halifax Urban Ministries has been working with area churches to open when temperatures creep below 40 degrees, Ray said. The problem, he said, is there’s not enough existing shelter to help people long-term.

The STAR Family Center shelter on North and Segrave streets for families and people with medical issues is full, with two families added Tuesday and another today for a total of 84 people, including 48 children. Nine other families are on a wait list.

In McLaurin’s case, she’s no stranger to getting help. She was in the Family STAR Center shelter for six months in 2008 and went into public housing, but left before she was about to be evicted because she didn’t have money for rent, she said.

She’s had various jobs and in the past year has been "bouncing from house to house" of friends and family, including another 23-year-old daughter, who also recently helped care for the two children. She also had been in a domestic abuse shelter recently, she said.

McLaurin, who has five other grown children in New York and Florida, also has been on probation for issuing a worthless check. The father of one of her children is in prison for uttering a forged check, she said.

She said Tuesday while her daughter was playing on her lap with a toy and her 6-year-old son was in school that she’s trying to get back on her feet and is grateful to area agencies. Being on the streets, McLaurin said, "is not a good place to be worrying about where you will lay your head or where your next meal is going to come from."

McLaurin is unable to go back to the STAR center because it’s full, officials said, and also because the agency generally only lets people stay once for about six months or longer if they are making progress to get a job.

Meanwhile, the STAR center’s dining room area was opening as a cold weather shelter Tuesday night, along with two churches in Bunnell and Deltona. Two other churches, which have not been involved in the past, have offered to open today and later this week.

But Ray said a long-term solution is needed. His agency, he said, is taking over the STAR Family Center and is working with the local homeless coalition to get grants to expand long-term shelter services to 100 additional beds, which will include room for individuals. Ray also wants to see a day center there where people can stay during the day and have case managers to help with job placements.

Meanwhile, other agencies are also helping people because of the cold.

The Jewish Federation of Volusia-Flagler Counties had several people come forward to donate used and new jackets. But the director is worried about meeting the demand from people seeking assistance next month with high utility bills afterrunning their heat. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Palm Coast helps with water and electric bills and propane, if needed, in addition to food and other help. Halifax Urban Ministries also helps with electric bills and will help provide people with propane gas.

The Council on Aging checked in the fall on its more than 4,000 clients ages 60 and over to ensure they have working heaters. The agency also sees its clients daily when delivering meals.

"We don’t wait until the difficult weather condition is upon us," said Gail Camputaro, executive director. "We check in the fall to make sure all are prepared for this kind of situation."

deborah.circelli@news-jrnl.com

There used to be government agencies that helped fill in these gaps in the social safety net. But supply-side, right-wing "Christians" got rid of them. These same "Christians" support the economic policies that cause these personal crises in the first place.