Since I last wrote a column in December addressing homeless issues in Plant City, there have been many new developments.
Meetings
The Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative, formerly known as the Homeless Coalition, recently met in Plant City with representatives from the following organizations: Plant City Police Department, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Plant City homeless advocates, Plant City Friends in the Park feeding program, as well as other community and government groups.
The goal was to discuss services and tools available for documentation and helping our homeless citizens get back on their feet and into housing. Training is being scheduled for at least 10 advocates and agency partners in Plant City to properly use the UNITY government site/forms that will enable our community to assist homeless. It will also help those at risk of becoming homeless to get permanent housing.
A separate focus is dedicated to veterans who are in these situations. Many citizens in these situations are unable to work on a regular basis and are permanently disabled. Going forward, Plant City will be represented at the THHI monthly meetings in Tampa. The next scheduled meeting in Tampa is Thursday, May 7.
Community Compassion
The citizens of Plant City have been overwhelmingly compassionate towards the plight of these members of our community, who are finding themselves without housing.
Material donations have included boxes of food taken to campsites, clothing, blankets, first aid supplies, camping necessities, toys for the children, feminine hygiene products, basic toiletries, bicycles, etc.
Many community members have tried to help by employing the homeless. Other community members have gone down to Courier Field/Veteran’s Park to assist in serving the nightly meals by Friends in the Park that are offered to the homeless and to those who are unable to provide a hot meal for their families.
Often, people will randomly show up at mealtime with leftover food from a family or civic function earlier in the day and add it to the meal being served by the Friends in the Park program.
Regardless of the perception most people have, many of the people taking advantage of these meals are in fact neighborhood residents that have a home but no means to feed their families.
Many of the groups involved in helping our friends have also assisted in resume writing, getting their needed documents for job applications and assisting the disabled who are in housing to maintain their environment.
If you are interested in making a donation of any kind, contact Shirley Chamberlain at (813) 764-4802. Food and clothing are basic human needs no one should be without.
Friends in the Park
The Friends in the Park program has been feeding Plant City’s homeless and needy citizens for five years at Veterans’ Memorial Monumen Park each evening at 5 p.m., and it is still going strong.
This program is coordinated by Barbara Grainger and consists of about 12 different churches and individuals who supply the food and serve it each night. This nightly meal offers individuals, whom may not have other social outlets, the opportunity for fellowship and relief from the loneliness that often is the life of a homeless person or a person living alone without family or friends close by.
During this nightly meal, homeless and needy individuals who have been injured (sometimes seriously, such as hospitalization from burns and traffic accidents) have had their wounds assessed and dressings changed.
If you are interested in participating in this program, contact Grainger through the Friends in the Park Facebook site: Facebook.com/ParkFriendsPlantCity.
If you are interested in donating food for this program, contact Grainger or any of the participating churches/individuals as listed on the Friends in the Park Facebook site.
Shirley Chamberlain is an advocate for the homeless and the Food Ministry Partner for Gospel METS Ministry.