Build Camp Haven

I am delighted to announce two new endorsements for Camp Haven! Sue Rux, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunities Council, has been serving on the Advisory Committee and stepped forward this week to formally give her endorsement. A second, and curious endorsement, came from Diane Mahan, Director of Kidz Closet Charities…

Hi Sonya — Hope this message finds you and the gang at The Source well. Please feel free to list me as an endorser of Camp Haven — Diane Mahan, Director, Kidz Closet Charities. It would be my honor and privilege to stand with you and help support your incredible vision!
xo diane

Why would Kidz Closet Charities, which provides clothing and diapers for needy children, endorse a housing program that will only serve adults? Diane’s reply:

Many of us are familiar with Gandhi’s quote “be the change you want to see in the world.” The Source is the change, the visionary, and the problem solver who will bring about positive solutions for the homeless in our community.

Over the past few years, many of us who are involved with Kidz Closet Charities have had the privilege of visiting The Source on a regular basis. You learn a lot about an agency when you continually drop in unannounced, delivering requested items such as jeans, maternity clothing or diapers. Our volunteers have witnessed some very special, life-changing interactions at The Source. I have witnessed first-hand small and large miracles and have seen lives transformed.

What is truly unique about The Source is the genuine concern and regard for the dignity of each individual in need. Every individual that walks through the doors of The Source is made to feel that they and their life situation are important and validated.

The mission of Kidz Closet Charities is to connect local resources with local needs. Over time, The Source has taught all of us at Kidz Closet Charities that our greatest “local resource” is not necessarily children’s clothing but one another – our human connection.

The Source is on the front line of the issue of homelessness, unemployment, underemployment, addiction, mental illness, and despair and is fighting the battle often times with little support from the community. It is imperative that all of us in the community – non-profits, community leaders, businesses, churches, civic groups, politicians, police, and residents – come together and support the vision of Camp Haven. It is the right thing to do.

A tent city in our neighborhood? VIDEO: Legacy – by Framework Productions. Photos taken of actual “tent cities” right here right now in Indian River County begin at 1:43.

Suppose your daughter were a physics teacher.  She was laid off at the end of May because of a cut back and you were no longer around to help her.  She used the balance of her checking account by June 15 and having not paid the rent was evicted at the end of July.  She is now homeless.  She uses her unemployment to pay her car payment and gasoline while she looks for a job.  She finally gets a job but it doesn’t start until the end of August.  She seeks menial jobs but no one will hire her because she is over-qualified.  Having no family to turn to, she goes to The Source.

She gets breakfast, lunch and dinner.  She agrees to clean the bathroom in exchange for her clothing being washed.  (Many of the Source clients help out in exchange for services.)  She sees a counselor who offers her a tent and bedding but there is no place to go. So the counselor says, “See Wayne over there, he’s homeless and he’ll show you the ropes and where you might set up your tent.”  The counselor can’t tell your daughter where to camp directly because that would be acting as an accessory to trespass.  Your daughter needs a place to stay until her job starts and then for another six weeks until she earns the first, last and security necessary to rent an apartment as well as the electric deposit.

She sets her tent up behind K-Mart and is annoyed because the folks next to her are up all night partying, and she hardly sleeps.  She has no way to assure that if she leaves, she will find her belongings there when she returns, so she packs up and hikes it all down to the Source for the next day.  This continues for three months until the end of October when she has the funds to move in to her new apartment.  (Many homeless people go to work each day.)

The Source helps the other homeless people too.  There are those who have adapted to homelessness, vagrancy and panhandling as a way of life; Camp Haven is not for them, your daughter doesn’t want to camp next to them.  There are those who can’t cope because of alcoholism, drug abuse, anger management issues and other deficiencies.  Camp Haven is not for them either.

The plan is for Camp Haven to shelter people like your daughter, Indian River County residents who are transitionally homeless, on a temporary basis while they get a job and save enough money to move into a new home.  Their stay is expected to be three to eight months.  A care manager screens them and assures that they are attaining incremental and measurable goals as well as providing for their basic needs. 

Most importantly, the plan avoids them learning to survive in the woods, losing faith in themselves, and adapting to homelessness and vagrancy.  It also helps them avoid being the victim of a violent crime (often homeless people are victims).  The plan is to help them help themselves out of the hole they are in and become productive much more quickly.  The plan is to reduce the homeless population from 600 to 500 per night by getting these transitionally homeless back to a home a few months earlier. 

Participants must be Indian River County residents who will agree to follow the rules and contribute to the camp by taking shifts at security, cleaning the lavatory, picking up trash, and operating the self-governing camp.  One strike and you’re out.  The stereotypical homeless person won’t agree to that, it involves too much responsibility.  They won’t come.

The Source helps people find jobs through other county resources.  It provides telephone service, a way to send and receive mail, work clothing, showers, food and emotional support.  It helps people write resumes, obtain documents such as a drivers license and social security card.  It helps people get a GED or to learn to read.  It also helps people heal their relationships: their relationship with themself, their relationship with others, and their relationship with God.  There are those who continue to remain homeless, but there are many success stories of those who advance when they get the support and the chance.

We will have homeless camping in our county whether we do this or not.  We ask you and the county to help us help Indian River County residents who become transitionally homeless with a safe and legal place to sleep at night while they seek a new place to live.