Who’s counting; and why?

People pray together during the Tuesday Ministries Outreach that helps homeless people at the Ocala First United Methodist Church on East Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

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Posted July 24, 2024 | By Andy Fillmore, [email protected]

Scores of homeless and needy people who visit the Tuesday Morning Outreach (TMO) of First United Methodist Church in Ocala get a hot meal and access to a wide range of necessities.

But the people who come there to eat, get new wearables or a phone and identification documents, also get a lot more—a sense of fellowship and a feeling that someone cares.

“We’re not alone,” said a woman who appeared to be in her 30s and said she has been living in her car and enduring the heat. She pointed to others in the church hall on a recent Tuesday morning and said there’s “fellowship” among those who are homeless and hungry.

Visitors at the recent TMO gathering shared a variety of situations.

Sosha said she is living outdoors near a local state park. She had been working as a security officer but lost her job and her situation spiraled downward.

Antwaun was once living behind a convenience store but said he has friends at the TMO.

A young pregnant woman waiting just outside the hall entrance said the church outreach is “the best place.” She evidently has lived “on the streets” for three years and it was unclear if she was currently living sheltered or outdoors.

“Taz” served in the Army in 1978 but has suffered medical setbacks and has lost a significant amount of weight. He got a cell phone through a governmental program at the TMO and was given numbers for two veterans’ outreaches here he could call.

Michael said he was living outdoors and at one point had a camper. He said jail time for drug possession contributed to his situation but “an address” would help stabilize him.

The first person that visitors met at the recent TMO gathering was church member and volunteer Lloyd Lindquist, who checked their stored information in the outreach computer.
Visitors then checked in with church member volunteers Luann Mayer and Cindy Warner, who had each one fill out a questionnaire for information about their housing and employment situations and other necessary information if they were seeking an identification document.

People in need can get essential items like toiletries and clothing at the TMO. Bicycles are available to those who are employed, and bibles and prayer are offered.

Teri Keepers, chair of the TMO, reports about 6,000 people were served in 2023 and said the outreach is 100% funded by FUMC. The TMO is held in a large hall adjacent to the church, which is located at 1126 E. Silver Springs Blvd.

The meal at the recent TMO included pulled pork, fresh vegetable and beans. Bakery products were donated by Publix Supermarkets. The meal was prepared by Patti and Tulley McQueen, who operate La Casella caterers of Ocala. Their crew members Christine Pittman and Barbara Van Dyke, along with church member volunteer Steve Bryans, handled the 122 meals served at the recent TMO session.

A representative with the Lifeline cell phone governmental program manned one of several booths in the hall for the recent outreach. The Lifeline phones are provided to those who have necessary proof of requirements, which include being a food stamp or Medicaid recipient. The representative said about 10 phones were issued in a recent TMO.

Sherri Snare, benefit consultant, worked a booth for Accent Insurance Group of Ocala. Snare provides information about qualifications for rent and utility assistance. She has been involved with the TMO outreach for about six years.

REQUIRED CENSUS

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2024 required census of homeless people in Marion County, posted by the Ocala/Marion County Joint Office of Homelessness Prevention, indicates the lowest number of homeless people here since 2010.

The current year figure of 378 homeless people is based on a field count by trained teams that fanned out across the county on Jan. 23. The count indicates that at that point in time, 201 people were living unsheltered in outdoor camps, under bridges and other areas, and 177 were living in local shelters.

According to Florida Department of Health data, the 2023 estimated count of the homeless in Marion County was 454; in 2022, it was 455. The highest estimate in 15 years was 2012, at 1,032.

At least four people who identified themselves as homeless at the recent TMO gathering did not recall or were not aware of being counted in the January 2024 HUD required “PIT” or point in time count.

That brought up the question of just how accurate is the annual “PIT” count and what trends are people seeing who work with homeless people and those in danger of becoming homeless? To learn more, we did an email Q&A with representatives from four local agencies that work closely with these constituencies, starting with the church.

TUESDAY MINISTRIES OUTREACH

Keepers said the church outreach assists the homeless and needy with food, clothing and access to a wide range of services such as help with utility bills and obtaining identification documents that are often necessary to enter some local shelters.

Q: What is your reaction to the 2024 PIT count numbers?

A:  On Jan. 23, 158 homeless and disadvantaged were at Ocala First United Methodist Church from sunrise until 12 p.m. receiving our services, which include showers, clothes, toiletries, a hot lunch, assistance with Florida state ID, cellphone, access to SNAP, Medicaid/Medicare, etc.

Q: What numbers of homeless have you been serving?

A: Here is our data that was collected weekly for 2023: Served, 5,982; showers, 1,381; toiletry packs, 2,228; survival items, 300; bikes issued, 51; work boots, 32; laundry kits, 222; bus passes, 13; Florida ID/birth certificates, 73

“Blessing Hands (a sub ministry as part of the Tuesday Ministries Outreach) assisted 68 individuals with Ocala Electric outstanding balances in which we used $3,468 of our designated budget,” Keepers wrote. “Since January 2024 through June 2024, TMO has served 3,293 folk which, based on our trend, we have increased our folk served 10% and expect our numbers to continue to increase.”

INTERFAITH EMERGENCY SERVICES

Interfaith CEO Karla Greenway has worked to help serve the homeless and needy here for almost 14 years.

Q: How accurate is the PIT count?

A. The homeless population is a moving target even when they stay local. Also, it’s based on self-reporting to a degree, so if someone says they aren’t homeless, but actually are, they don’t get counted. It also doesn’t capture all of the single moms living in cars with their children and/or the ones that don’t want to be identified as homeless; a number that seems to be growing. As far as the number going down, I would say it has gone down overall since the year before COVID-19.

Q: What factors might have contributed to a possible drop on the number of homeless people here?

A: (During the pandemic) we (all of the nonprofits that work with this population) got a great deal of money that we don’t normally get to work with the homeless. Interfaith had a staff of five dedicated solely to helping them get services, get housed, or preventing households from becoming homeless.

During those couple of years, in partnership with the other local agencies, we were able to thin out the homeless population here quite a bit. That is also how the city was able to implement the diversion program (a paid one-way bus ticket), helping those who end up here without shelter get back to their home counties; this program has continued to be funded due to its impact.

In 2018 Project Hope paid off their debt and by 2019 were able to utilize more of their apartments for their temporary housing program. His House for Her opened, which has taken some of the women battling addiction off of the count. Next year we hope to see Open Arms Village open their women’s program, which will further impact the number of homeless receiving services that should lead them to housing. Also, we have continued to operate a homeless services program on a small scale and in one quarter alone we assisted 47 individuals in getting into shelter or housing. We hope to increase that success with the opening of a dedicated center for this purpose.

We have created a specific homeless services program that focuses solely on the literally homeless with a grant from United Way. For the ‘22-‘23 year, this program successfully assisted 91 homeless individuals to get into housing and another 19 into shelter or rehab.

So, I would say that is true (drop in homeless), but it has happened over a span of about five years and got a big boost from the government funding that came with the pandemic.

Q: What upcoming trend do you see in the number of local homeless people?

A: If the basic costs of living don’t come down, I forecast an increase in the number of homeless and it will be a very different population than what we have seen historically.

Greenway said that IES had 2,115 calls for help in 2023, compared to 1,335 in 2022, an increase she attributes to food and rental increases.

“We’ve had 683 (calls for help) the first five months of this year so we are on track to take about 1,600 calls by the end of the year,” she wrote. “We have no low-barrier shelter beds and that is a big problem that keeps many on our streets and in the woods. There is an effort that I think is going to be funded by the Marion County Hospital District working with Wear Gloves to open a low-barrier shelter so that will have a positive impact in the future.”

SOCIAL SERVICES OUTREACH

Mike Travaglini is the director of the social services outreach at Saint Theresa Catholic Church in Belleview.  The church is a “hub” of services for those in need in south Marion County and a partner in the Belleview Area Social Services network of members, which includes churches and individuals, according to its website, mystcc.org, which notes that the church’s outreach served “over 68,000 clients and families in 2019.”

The social services outreach aids the needy and homeless with rent, utility payment, short term motel stays and more. The church operates a food pantry and a soup kitchen open every day of the year, which serves a meal to about 200 people daily in a covered sit-down patio dining area. The outreach also provides career, health and dental services and access.

Q: Do you feel the PIT numbers are an accurate reflection of the number of homeless people in our area?

A: My opinion is no. We have seen an 11% increase in food assistance just from last year, which means either people are on the verge of or are new homeless possibly living in their cars, which is hard to track.

Q: What trend do you see in the homeless or near homeless population here?

A: Trends are a constant steep increase in rents with little to no increase in wages, which results in numerous new homeless with a decrease in funding.

BROTHERS KEEPER

Brothers Keeper is the social services outreach of Blessed Trinity Catholic Church of Ocala. The outreach includes emergency “hand up” help services, Christmas and Thanksgiving programs, a soup kitchen in downtown Ocala that is overseen by Sister Concepta Najjemba and which serves a lunch meal typically to about 150 people or more 365 days a year, volunteer efforts and a thrift store to cover overhead so all donations go to the outreach. Brothers Keeper also partners with other local agencies to help those in need.

Jason Halstead is the executive director of Brothers Keeper.

Q: Do you feel the PIT count that shows 378 homeless persons in 2024 vs 453 for 2023 is accurate based on what you’re seeing daily?

A: Yes, I believe the PIT count is accurate. Rates of homelessness can change day to day, but these counts seem like a good snapshot of what we’re seeing in our ministry overall.

Q: What trends are you seeing now?

A: We have seen an increase in people calling for assistance with housing or shelter.  The agencies that work with the homeless or those at risk of being homeless are doing great work, but affordable housing and a low barrier shelter are still needed. Unfortunately, most homeless that we serve are dealing with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues.

Many of the homeless are also individuals who have aged out of foster care and have no support system. Most of the clients we see who are at risk of being homeless are seniors living on a fixed income or single mothers with children who are having a hard time making ends meet and supporting their families on a single income.

Q: How many are served daily by your agency’s soup kitchen, and are those numbers up or down?

A: Our soup kitchen numbers are up slightly compared to a few years ago. Some of the clients who eat at the soup kitchen are homeless and many are housed in the surrounding area but suffer from food instability.

Q: Any other comment?

A: The breakdown of the family, mental illness and substance abuse are the largest contributors to homelessness and poverty. If we can focus on, address and treat these issues directly, we would see a dramatic decrease in homelessness and poverty.