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Where Hope Meets Help By Alex Holmquist / aholmquist@pioneerpress.com
In February, struggling financially, Taylor and her 11-year-old son, Sam,
came to Union Gospel Mission’s Naomi Family “I was so broke, so scared,” she said. “It was shell shock.” Taylor, who worked as a registered nursing assistant for about 13 years, described herself as a “hider of shame.” She said her pride made it hard to accept generosity from strangers, but the mission gave her a strong foundation to rebuild her life. The mission provides food, shelter and development programs to homeless people in the Twin Cities. Last year, it provided more than 300,000 meals to hungry people and provided educational opportunities, including career development training and job coaching, to 250 men and women. “They want to help out of pure love,” Taylor said. “Don’t reject that."
Raising Awareness of the Homeless Hamline will host an expert panel Wednesday to discuss homelessness in the Twin Cities. Doege said he hopes the event will encourage community members to donate food and clothing to benefit local homelessness charities. The panel will include leaders of organizations that help homeless people in Minnesota, as well as government officials such as state Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul. “We have reason to believe that the problem (homelessness) is getting worse and not better,” Hausman said. She said that thanks to volunteer efforts, local churches have housed more homeless people than institutional efforts by Ramsey County. “Without the churches’ voluntary efforts, we would be in trouble,” she said. Hausman added that there is a noticeable population of homeless veterans, including a growing number of homeless Iraq war veterans. Dan Goodermont, community integrated services manager at People Serving People, a homeless shelter in Minneapolis, also will speak at the event. He said community members can help by volunteering much-needed services such as child care and tutoring.
How Mom and Son Get Help “She was beautiful,” Sam said of his mom’s new look. On Nov. 10, Taylor finished the mission’s WorkNet program, which meets in a classroom setting 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The program offers workshops, one-on-one sessions with staff, interactive labs and mock interviews with employers to prepare people for the workforce. Taylor’s back injuries won’t let her return to work as a nursing assistant, but she hopes to work again at a hospital.
Thanks to fundraisers organized by her attorney and Sam’s former elementary
school, Turtle Lake, Sam is still able The articulate sixth-grader has plenty to do at Naomi Residence, too. He has two close friends his age and plays with many of the younger children. “All the little kids love him,” Taylor said. Sam also attended the mission’s summer camp at Snail Lake, where he enjoyed fishing, horseback riding and playing sports. The camp cost $60. Taylor said she hopes to afford her own apartment in the near future, but this task may prove difficult because affordable housing is scarce in the Twin Cities.
Affordable Housing in Short Supply Laura Kadwell, the state’s director for ending long-term homelessness, said the recession has dried up funding to pay for new affordable-housing units. People Serving People works with landlords to rent units that may be less desirable, often due to location, to homeless people who may have marks on their rental history. Not only is finding housing difficult for homeless people, but finding work is nearly impossible as well.
Kenneth Abner has been homeless in St. Paul for one year. Formerly a cook,
Abner said he has been unable to find work at fast-food restaurants. Abner
said he had planned to leave the Union Gospel Mission shelter after five or
six months, but one Abner said his last job was at the State Fair, and most of his earnings were used to pay for his daughter’s school supplies. He comes to the mission every day to eat and enters his name in a lottery to win one of 90 emergency shelter beds. Since the recession began, the demand for these beds has increased substantially, said Gail Gisi, director of communications and marketing for the mission.
Police Promote Shelters Over the past few years, St. Paul police and social service providers also have worked to improve relations between police and the homeless. Police are encouraged to direct homeless people to a shelter instead of jail. Dubbed “the living room of the homeless,” Listening House, at 215 W. Ninth St. in St. Paul, provides shelter for the homeless during the day. Here, people can receive their mail, use the phone, wash up, get a haircut, store personal documents and much more. Taylor had her disability hearing Oct. 19 and was awarded back pay from 2006. She is awaiting word on when she will receive the money. Meanwhile, she simply works to make it from day to day. “I don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” she said, “but I have faith.”
He’s No Longer an
Alcoholic, Homeless or Divorced By Alex Holmquist / aholmquist@pioneerpress.com
Young said he was raised as a “farm boy,” attended parochial schools and went to church with his family on Sundays. But somewhere along the way, things took a bad turn. He said he did not admit he had an addiction problem until a DWI conviction in 1985 - the first of three. Young moved with his wife to the Twin Cities from Fairfax. Minn., in 1986 to “get a new start.” The addiction led to his divorce in 1988 and caused him to lose his career as a restaurant owner and his 10-year job as a car salesman. He sought treatment in both outpatient and inpatient treatment facilities but was unable to stay sober. “It got to be real ugly real quick,” he said. He became homeless in July 1997 after he was kicked out of a Roseville apartment he shared with a recovering alcoholic. Living on the streets, Young slept behind stores on University Avenue and often locked himself in portable toilets to avoid getting beaten up or mugged. But the worst part about being homeless was the feeling of loneliness, Young said. Young said he tried to “remain invisible” until, pained by shame and guilt, he came to Union Gospel Mission in October 1997. He joined the mission’s Christ recovery program. “Recovery finally clicked,” he said. He is now the program’s director. Young said he knows how it feels to be “thrown away by society.” He aims to offer hope to people who come to the mission The program, which treated about 70 people in 2007, has two phases. The first includes four to six months of intensive programming, with daily meetings focused on Bible study, relapse prevention and anger management. It also offers adult education classes, career development classes and job coaching. During the second phase, participants attend support meetings while going to school full time or being employed. Two-year transitional housing is also available. Young said he wouldn’t have survived if not for shelters like the mission, which kept him fed, allowed him to shower from time to time and gave him warm clothes. Young married again four years ago and lives in Maplewood. He has reconnected with his 27-year-old son, whom he had abandoned. Young said his son is still angry, and rightfully so. “I chose to drink over him,” Young said.
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Unable
to work after she was hit by a truck in 2005, Barb Taylor, 48, lost her home
in a Shoreview trailer park.
Randy
Young, 50, became homeless in St. Paul in 1997 after he lost his business,
several jobs, his home and family through chronic alcoholism.