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Homeless To Get Cold-Weather Shelter

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

dlwhite@tampatrib.com

Published: February 18, 2009

BRANDON - With the recent chilly weather, advocates for the poor want to make sure homeless people in the Brandon area aren't left out in the cold.

Members of Greater Brandon Ecumenical Ministries, which operates the I Am Hope Cafe soup kitchen at First Baptist Church of Mango, are working with the county to establish a cold-weather shelter at the Brandon Recreation Center on Sadie Street.

This would be the fourth cold-weather shelter for the homeless in Hillsborough County. The Salvation Army and Metropolitan Ministries operate shelters in Tampa, and the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department operates a shelter at the Bethune Recreation Center in Wimauma.
Ecumenical Ministries is a nonprofit group of Brandon area churches and faith-based groups concerned with the plight of Brandon's growing homeless population. President Vince Ferraro said the group decided to approach the county after seeing ill homeless residents coming to the soup kitchen.

He said the low temperatures had especially taken a toll on older homeless people forced to seek shelter in the woods and beneath overpasses.

"We're seeing a lot of freezing people with nowhere to go," Ferraro said. "One lady came in Friday bleeding. She'd been out in the elements and needed medical care. We got her to the hospital, and it turned out she needed surgery."

The soup kitchen, which opened in September, feeds about 65 people on the evenings it is open.

Lucious Davis, area director for the Hillsborough County Department of Health and Social Services, has been working with the Brandon group and the parks department to open a shelter in the area.

"We're looking at getting a shelter open at the Brandon Recreation Center by the end of this month," Davis said. "The parks and recreation department and the Brandon group have agreed to partner with us, and it appears we can make this happen. The parks department will provide the facility and mats. The Brandon people will provide food, water and blankets. We just need to work out security measures."

Davis said he is heartened by Brandon's willingness to help residents in need.

"Many folks are saying, 'Not in my neighborhood,'" Davis said. "But the Brandon community seems very sensitive to the plight of their fellow citizens. They know people are losing their jobs and homes. The face of the homeless is changing. We're seeing more families, more children."

Davis said the county previously operated several cold-weather shelters at recreation centers. However, it ceased the practice at all except the Wimauma facility because there wasn't a need.

"Now the homeless population is far exceeding anything we expected," Davis said. "We already have a blueprint for cold-weather shelters. I think we can overcome any challenges and make this happen."

If successful, Davis would like to open similar shelters in Town 'N Country, Plant City and the University of South Florida area.

"We'll use Brandon as a prototype and see how things go," he said.

I Am Hope Cafe, at 11619 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., near the intersection of County Road 579, serves hot meals from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays and from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturdays. The nonprofit ecumenical ministries also has installed showers and added a clothes closet to the cafe.

I Am Hope Cafe's partner, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on County Road 579, feeds the homeless from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

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