Wear Gloves is expanding its Dignity House outreach
After renovations are completed in about a year, referrals of the most vulnerable persons in the area needing shelter will come from the Ocala/ Marion County Joint Office of Homelessness Prevention.
Ken and Wendy Kebrdle, the founders of Wear Gloves, pose for a photo at their planned Dignity House for homeless people as they give a tour of the facility on South Pine Avenue in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, August 22, 2024. Wear Gloves recently purchased the building with HUD funding assistance from Marion County. It was formerly the Ocala Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Center operated by Creative Services, Inc., an Ocala-based not-for-profit that closed its doors and stopped their services in late July 2023. The Kebrdles plan to completely renovate the building and said they plan to eventually have 60 beds in the building for homeless people. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
Dignity House, an emergency intake center for unsheltered people, which was opened in March by the founders of the local nonprofit Wear Gloves, is expanding from a three-bedroom house into a 13,000-square-foot building in southwest Ocala.
The expanded Dignity House will intake persons who were living unsheltered for a 30-day emergency stay. Plans include offering future residents an 18-month “workforce readiness training” program with in-house case management
People living unsheltered—such as in cars, under bridges and in camps—will be referred through a coordinated entry list administered by the Ocala/Marion County Joint Office of Homelessness Prevention.
The building was the former site of domestic violence shelter. The renovations should be completed in about a year. Plans are to initially house 12 people a “non-congregational,” or one person per room, setting for about a year and eventually house up to 60 people.
A floor plan is shown posted on a wall in the planned Dignity House on Thursday, August 22, 2024. The Wear Gloves nonprofit recently purchased the building with HUD funding assistance from Marion County. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
The Dignity House is aimed at transforming lives and restoring hope “through the power of housing,” according to a post on the organization’s website, which states, “Our initiative is rooted in the belief that everyone deserves a place to call home, where they can find stability, security, and a sense of belonging.”
“This won’t be a shelter with people standing around outside,” Ken Kebrdle, said of Dignity House.
The couple opened the original Dignity House five months ago to accommodate three homeless women after they learned of their plights, such as living in their cars or on the street.
“Dignity House will help folks find jobs and receive training if they are interested,” stated Wendy Kebrdle, CEO of Wear Gloves.
Residents who are involved in the workforce training program will be prepared to seek work with any employer, including the Wear Gloves Dignity Center.
The Dignity Center outreach has provided workforce readiness for longer term unemployed people, job skills, certification for jobs and outsourced work for clients such as Trinity Surfaces flooring and ClosetMaid. The outreach also has a contract with the city of Ocala for a litter cleanup crew.
According to Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting documents provided by Marion County Public Relations Manager Stacie Causey, Wear Gloves applied to the county’s Community Services office for funds to purchase the building and make renovations.
The 13,000-square-foot single-story building which, county records state, was built in 1973. It was formerly the Ocala Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Center operated by Creative Services, Inc., an Ocala-based not-for-profit that closed its doors and stopped services in late July 2023. The building was purchased by Wear Gloves with $635,000 in HUD funds approved by the Marion County Board of County Commissioners on July 16. An additional $400,000 was approved for ongoing renovations and Wear Gloves will provide $258,750 towards the project, according to a county document.
The HUD monies were received by the county under the Home Investment Partnership Program – American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) funds through the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development and were provided to complete the Dignity House project because “there is continued need for emergency shelter, supportive housing and access to basic wraparound service,” according to a county document.
The county set a primary Community Development goal in 2018 with a five-year consolidated plan “for funding through HUD, and in furtherance of the national objective, to develop viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income, and/or presumed benefit,” according to the document.
The Kebrdles came to the Ocala area in 2002 from northeast Ohio and, following a calling, they traveled for a time helping others and then established Wear Gloves here in 2009.
In 2023, Wear Gloves had 376 people employed, $836,073 in income and volunteers with the organization donated 6,893 hours to help clients, the website states.
Over the years, thousands of clients in the program work have been served with “dignity rather than dependency,” according to the website.
The referrals from the Ocala/ Marion County Joint Office of Homelessness Prevention come from a coordinated entry list of the most vulnerable persons in the area needing shelter.
City of Ocala Public Information Officer Gregory Davis stated in an email that “referrals for housing assistance are made based on the vulnerability score and the length of time the client is homeless.”
“Currently, we have nine families and 27 individuals on the coordinated entry list. Each client on the list meets the criteria of being literally homeless. HUD uses the term ‘literally homeless’ to describe a person or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,” he wrote.
Melissa Abney will serve as manager of the relocated and expanded Dignity House. Abney, a former homeless heroin and methamphetamine addict, has overcome her addiction and has been reunited with family members. She can help residents through her experiences.
Abney found self-worth and her path out of homelessness through the Wear Gloves Dignity Center program she joined about three and a half years ago during her journey toward sobriety, according to the Wear Gloves website.
“Without Dignity House I’d be dead,” said Abney, 46.
To learn more about Wear Gloves and its various programs, go to weargloves.org
Ken and Wendy Kebrdle, the founders of Wear Gloves, are shown inside the building that will be renovated and house the nonprofit’s Dignity House outreach. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
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