United Way tops target third consecutive year

Feb. 14, 2012  
MELBOURNE — United Way of Brevard received a heartfelt message from locals in time for Valentine’s Day.

Monday, the organization said it exceeded its 2011 campaign goal of $7 million, with a 2.5 percent increase over the amount raised in the 2010 campaign, said Robert Rains, president.

The community “came together as a family,” Rains said, with $7,049,139 that will help fund the work of 63 programs offered by 42 United Way partner organizations.

“We have many loyal donors and contributors, and United Way is a part of the culture here for so many organizations in our community,” Rains said.

Despite the lingering effects of a national recession, the United Way fundraising numbers are up for the third year in a row, with Brevard’s being one of only 12 of the country’s 157 organizations with such a three-year run, Rains said.

United Way benefited from 377 workplace campaigns in 2011, with nearly 30,000 donors. Folks got creative: At Lockheed Martin, employees purchased the right to cut an inch off the boss’ tie. Senior management at Harris Corp. filled backpacks with personal hygiene items for local homeless veterans as part of the company’s efforts.

Susan McGrath, United Way vice president of resource development, said the campaign’s success “speaks volumes about partners’ commitment to the people of this community.”

“They work here, but they also live here, are part of the fabric of this community,” she said.

An estimated 230,000 people will be helped, Rains said.

Monday, December 26, 2011

By Rick Neale | FLORIDA TODAY

Since Jerome Thomas lost his job roughly three months ago, he's lived in the scrubby forest near Cocoa, down and out and destitute.

But now, Thomas is starting over. The 1970s Air Force veteran was shocked to learn he was selected to move into National Veterans Homeless Support's first transitional home in Titusville.

"I don't know what to say, man," Thomas told a crowd on Christmas afternoon, wearing camouflage pants and waving a stuffed Rudolph reindeer doll. "This is my first step on my way to a different life. Thank you very much.

"This is the best Christmas I've ever had," he said.

Thomas received a key to the house during a NVHS ceremony at Super 8 in Titusville. That's where the nonprofit organization's WarmFullSafe program placed 26 homeless veterans in hotel rooms for the holiday weekend.

The group also booked 32 homeless veterans at Tropical Inn in Palm Bay, NVHS Chairman George Taylor said.

The Gilbert Street transitional house will shelter veterans for 90 to 180 days until they find permanent work and homes. Thomas will share the facility with:

Eugene Maltz, who served in the Army during the 1970s and has lived in the woods near Titusville on and off for the past decade.

Allen Green (Marines 1974-98) and Jane Bergin, who celebrate their 29th anniversary next month. They have lived in the woods near Titusville for three months.

Robert Murray, the house manager. Two weeks ago, he moved from the forest near State Road 528 into the home.

Taylor said Murray has logged 10-, 12- and 14-hour days painting, tiling floors, and performing electrical and carpentry work, preparing the structure for occupancy. Murray was hired Friday by Super 8 as a maintenance worker.

"It's had a great deal of impact on me," Murray said of whirlwind of events. "I tell myself every day that if I do a little bit extra and work hard, someone will take notice.

"Things have really been happening fast for me. And everything's been positive," he said.

NVHS initially hoped to raise $10,000 to house 30 to 40 veterans during Christmas weekend, Taylor said. The group wound up raising $14,550.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Homeless Support reaches South Brevard

By R. Norman Moody | FLORIDA TODAY

homeless;veterans

Through the kindness of local veterans organizations, residents and businesses, a program that for the past two years has provided a special Christmas experience to homeless veterans in north Brevard County is expanding its reach to the south.

For the past two Christmases, National Veterans Homeless Support's "Warm, Full, Safe" program has brought homeless veterans out of the woods and off the streets to a motel in Titusville, where they are offered rooms for two nights, food, clothes, supplies and camaraderie with other former service members.

"This is the first year we're doing it on the south end of the county," said Dorothy Walsh, an NVHS volunteer. "We're excited about it."

The Titusville-based organization previously would bring homeless veterans to Titusville by bus, but this year decided to expand, so veterans living in woods in the south end of the county could experience Christmas in a motel nearby.

"We'll have it in two locations because some of the vets won't leave Melbourne and Palm Bay," said George Taylor, NVHS founder. "They don't want to be too far from their personal belongings."

The veterans will stay in the motels Christmas eve and Christmas Day. Fellow veterans and other volunteers will set up tents and tables with food outside the motels — Motel 8 on Garden Street in Titusville and Tropical Inn on U.S.1 in Palm Bay.

In addition to about 50 homeless veterans who will stay at the motels, another equal number will have food delivered to them along with supplies they need in their wooded camps. Taylor said 10 veterans' families also will be helped during the holidays.

The organization is still looking for donations of cash and items from flashlights to batteries and phone cards.

NVHS also is opening a transitional home that will house several veterans for 90 to 180 days until they can find jobs and permanent housing. The first residents will come from the group spending Christmas at the motels.

Homeless no more

Bob Murray, a 56-year-old Air Force veteran who spent last Christmas in the Motel 8, courtesy of NVHS, said it was a good feeling knowing that the community helped him. He has been homeless for two years after working as a chef and then losing his last job as a truck driver.

"I appreciate George Taylor and his organization for what they've done for us," Murray said. "I appreciate the community stepping up."

Murray moved in as the volunteer house manager for the transitional home that will officially be opened to other veterans the day after Christmas.

"I've come a long way," he said. "I'm back on a positive track. I'm the house manager, but I'm still a homeless veteran."

But Murray, who on Tuesday was working on final repairs before the home opens to others, said he hopes he can transition into a good job and a home to call his own.

Christmas surprise

Those who will move into the home already have been selected, but they have not yet been told. They will be surprised with the news on Christmas Day.

"Five veterans will be taken from the motel and given a bed in NVHS' first transitional home," Taylor said.

Taylor said the third annual event, as well as the transitional home, are funded through donations from local veterans organizations, companies and individuals.

"The community support has been excellent," he said.

Taylor added the organization will seek VA grants to help support the home on Gilbert Street in Titusville, which also has a bicycle shop to repair bicycles for homeless veterans.

"We're going to apply," he said. "I would love to get the federal grants."

He said the home was donated by someone who wanted to remain anonymous.

Contact Moody at 321-242-3651 or nmoody@floridatoday.com

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Brevard charities see surge in those seeking help

By Britt Kennerly | FLORIDA TODAY

Seated at a picnic table near others in need of a meal, too, Kim Conrad couldn't bear to talk much about holidays or life in years gone by.

It's too painful to flip through that mental memory book now that the 44-year-old and her fianceé, Ross Manczyk, are living in a Jeep 4x4, with no address and no firm prospects for the housing and jobs they seek.

"When you hit bottom, you don't expect a lot," said Conrad, a stay-at-home mom of two for many years before a divorce.

"I try not to think about the past ... we're hoping this will pan out. We just need that one little push."

She and Manczyk, transplants to the Space Coast from Michigan, have joined the growing numbers of Brevardians living on or beyond the edge.

As the national economy continues to struggle, local social service agencies are straining to meet a growing number of clients' basic needs, from baby food to bicycles used for transportation rather than fun.

Conrad and Manczyk, 40, show up daily now at the Central Brevard Sharing Center on Aurora Street, where lunch is served 365 days a year, and 4,324 meals were dished out in October.

That same month, 243 first-time clients asked for help of some kind from the center, said Ed Price, director. Clothes. Shoes. Rent or mortgage assistance. Up to a dozen people show up every Tuesday to sign up for food stamps.

"The truth is, you can't survive on what we give you," Price said.

"But what we do provide, with the help of the community and United Way, is a little bit of assistance."

Are there people who are "undereducated, mentally ill or just plain lazy seeking help? Yes," Price said.

But more and more lately, many of those aided short-term by the county's three nonprofit sharing centers are not the stereotypical "hardcore homeless," he said.

They are families. Single people between jobs. People like Michigan natives Conrad and Manczyk, a former assembly worker and divorced father of three. He has been unable to find employment since taking a buyout two years ago, after 22 years with a company that made parts for Chrysler.

With the buyout money and his house gone, the two hoped to live with relatives here as they sought jobs. That didn't work out.

"I've had ups and downs in my life, but nothing like this," Manczyk said, holding an assembly-job ad to which he planned to respond.

It used to be that those on the verge of losing everything, or plunged into poverty, were "people we didn't know" — but that's no longer the case, said Cindy Flachmeier, CEO of the nonprofit Community Services Council.

"We get calls all the time from people between 50 and 62, who can't work, aren't eligible for Social Security, but own a house and don't qualify for some of the other entitlement programs," Flachmeier said.

"Our services are mostly for people older than 60. There's a gap in service for those people who are no longer children or in families, but aren't old enough to fit into the senior population. There really isn't a safety net for that group."

Veterans without homes

Homelessness has hit another local population hard over the past few years — those who've served their country.

About 600 veterans are homeless in Brevard County, said George Taylor Sr., founder and president of the Titusville-based National Veterans Homeless Support Inc. He's joined in the effort to help homeless veterans by Theodis Ray, chaplain at the Disabled American Veterans chapter on Singleton Avenue.

Ray and Taylor often see Dave Gotshall, 51, who served in the Navy from 1980-85. Earlier this year, the former auto mechanic was among those cleared from the city's wooded areas when Titusville police dismantled 11 camps after fights, incidents of harassment of the public and public intoxication.

"Thanksgiving? It's just a Thursday to me," said Gotshall, who receives $200 worth of food stamps monthly. He said he still lives in the woods.

Ray said the center does what it can, but that need remains critical.

"There's nothing we can do except give them what they need: food, sleeping bags, backpacks, things like that," he said. "I'm out of tents ... that's the way it is. That's the way they have to live. Day to day, it's a hand-to-mouth existence. It's bad."

Fellowship with others

This Thanksgiving, as in the past, some of North Brevard's homeless veterans will dine with Ernie and Tammy Aiken of Titusville.

Ernie Aiken, who's disabled, and his wife, a Coquina Elementary School teacher, have broken bread for the past 12 years with those who don't have a lot of choices about where they'll be spending the holidays.

The first year the Aikens offered the meal, the year they married, they served 23 people. Last year, 130 people, including several homeless locals, showed up.

The meal's ever-growing size has forced the couple to move it from their house to their church, Lifepoint Ministries, to donated space at Indian River Community Center.

"They just want to be with other people, have fellowship with other people," he said.

Conrad said she'll be happy just to have a place, any place, to eat today. She and Manczyk hope they will soon be able to afford housing, rather than moving from parking lot to parking lot and being asked by police to move their vehicle in the middle of the night.

She'd do anything — "pick oranges, whatever" — to get back on her feet, Conrad said.

A sandwich. A cold drink. Any link to normalcy, or some semblance of it. It all helps.

"I remember people throwing away food in restaurants, or leaving half of it on their plates," Conrad said.

"Now I'm glad to get a biscuit, or a roll and some juice. Isn't it terrible, what we take for granted?"

Contact Kennerly at 321-242-3692, bkennerly@floridatoday.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/bybrittkennerly.

October 21, 2011

Annual Stand Down event draws increasing numbers

By R. Norman Moody | FLORIDA TODAY

During the Vietnam War, battle-stressed troops could find a safe retreat from the front lines at secure base camps. In what was called Stand Down, they would get showers, clean uniforms, hot meals, medical and dental care.

Today, Stand Down refers to a one-day event in which community organizations and volunteers welcome veterans, most of them homeless, to provide them with some of the same basic needs.

As economic conditions worsened and unemployment rose in recent years, so did the number of veterans visiting the annual event. More than ever are expected to emerge from their camps and come by bus, bicycles and on foot Saturday to the security and comfort of Stand Down at Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 109 in Titusville.

"I know we get several of them off the street each year," said Arthur "Gunner" Dudley, the state vice commander of the American Legion, which helps with the event. "It's very successful."

But the downside of success with something like this, Dudley said, is the reality that more veterans need the services.

"There is no work out there," he said. "We're seeing more women."

The men and women receive help with personal needs and military benefits through veterans organizations, Department of Veterans Affairs and dozens of community volunteers. They also have access to services such as dental, vision and health screenings, food, clothes, sleeping bags, backpacks, boots, legal help, haircuts, VA claims and counseling.

Organizers said that seven years ago, the local Stand Down helped about 140 veterans. Last year, 222 veterans were served, in addition to about 35 non-veterans and family members. About 300, including families with children, are expected Saturday.

Dudley said that while geared toward homeless veterans, those who demonstrate need are not turned away. Dudley will present a check for $2,500 to Stand Down from the American Legion.

On Wednesday, two of the hundreds of homeless veterans who have benefited from previous Stand Down events were among the dozens of volunteers unloading and setting up items for Saturday.

The event, coordinated by National Veterans Homeless Support, relies on donations from veterans organizations, businesses and individuals.

George Taylor, NVHS founder, said Stand Down, which only a few years ago had a budget of about $3,000, now costs about $10,000.

It also requires dozens of volunteers.

Taylor said that while the majority served each year are homeless, those in transitional homes and others seeking help with obtaining their veterans benefits, they are seeing more and more non-homeless vets participate, as well.

"It's because of unemployment," Taylor said. "These younger veterans, they simply want a job."

He said more of the homeless and long-term unemployed are young veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some come back with post-traumatic stress disorder or encounter other difficulties when they leave military service.

"The bottom line is no work," Taylor said. "They are ending up in a car, they are ending up on a couch and they are ending up in the woods. They are blaming themselves for not finding a job."

John Carroll, a social worker for Viera VA's Healthcare for Homeless Veterans, said fluctuation in the number of people attending Stand Down from year to year could be attributed to how well information reaches the veterans.

"We're seeing an increase in people that had jobs and homes that lost their jobs or their homes are being foreclosed," he said.

Vietnam veterans in San Diego organized the first modern Stand Down in 1988. It quickly became an effective way of helping thousands of homeless veterans across the country. Brevard hosts two annual Stand Down events — Saturday's event in Titusville and one in Cocoa coming in March.

"I'm a veteran and my husband is a veteran," said Titusville resident Christine Tate, who is coordinating the medical services for Saturday. "I love working with the homeless vets."

Tate, who served in the Air Force Reserve, has helped for several years.

"We're getting more vets, and we're seeing more PTSD as the younger guys are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan."

Contact Moody at 242-3651 or nmoody@floridatoday.com

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

By R. Norman Moody

FLORIDA TODAY

Philip Campbell would trek from his primitive, tarp-covered camp hidden in the thick brush in Cocoa to a nearby gas station every day. There, he was allowed to use the Internet connection to do college classwork.

After getting to know him, the owners of the gas station and convenience store offered Campbell a job. Soon after that, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran began to have hope that he could beat homelessness. And he did, thanks to the kindness of several in the community.

"If I can do it, you can, because I'm not that smart," he said, sitting at a picnic table outside the store.

In the three months since gaining employment, Campbell has not only emerged from more than a year of living in the woods, but he also continues his work at the convenience store and his schooling at Brevard Community College. His story moved someone he never met to donate a car to him earlier this month.

Campbell, 50, was among the hundreds of homeless veterans who live in woods, alleys and abandoned structures in Brevard County. Many of them, like Campbell, have had brushes with the criminal justice system, or have experienced mental health issues that compound their ability to get out of homelessness.

It is estimated that 600 to 700 homeless veterans live in Brevard, and about 107,000 across the nation are without a place to call home.

Campbell wants his courses at BCC to lead to a degree in social work or work as a Christian counselor so he can help some of the homeless people he knows still living in the woods.

"Being homeless myself and seeing the problems, I want to help," said Campbell, who served in the Marine Corps from 1980 to 1982. "They lack hope. I can give them hope. God can give them hope. They don't have to be there."

He now lives in an apartment in the office of a Christian mission in Cocoa, in exchange for providing nighttime security.

Campbell lived a lonely life in a tent set up in the woods, despite the location being very close to a populated area. At times, he said, he thought his struggle for survival wasn't worth the effort.

"I was suicidal in the beginning," he said.

He said his experiences with Overlook Ministries at East Coast Christian Center on Merritt Island gave him hope, helped him attend college and look for a job. He also sought out National Veterans Homeless Support after he was referred to the local organization and its founder, George Taylor.

"He studied here," said Marty Usanmaz, whose family owns the Cocoa convenience store where Campbell works. "We got to know him and saw that he was reliable, so we hired him. Philip is trying to better himself. He seemed like somebody who was trying hard and we appreciate that."

NVHS is an advocacy group that assists homeless veterans with items such as sleeping bags, backpacks, food and other supplies and with applying for their veterans' benefits. It was through the group that a donor who wanted to remain anonymous gave Campbell a 1993 Mazda with 61,000 miles.

Campbell, in turn, plans to give a motorized bicycle that he was using to a homeless person he knows needs transportation.

Volunteer coordinator John Grimes said Campbell has begun helping two younger veterans, one of whom is taking college courses.

"I think Philip has helped to guide them," he said.

Dana Blickley, a volunteer with NVHS, said the organization helped, but it was Campbell's initiative that propelled him out of homelessness and fueled his desire to help others.

"We knew Phillip would pay it forward," she said.

Contact Moody at 321-242-3651 or nmoody@floridatoday.com

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Titusville officials discussing conflicting reports in the operation

By DAVE BERMAN

FLORIDA TODAY

Mayor Jim Tulley assured advocates for homeless veterans that he will try to get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding the recent clearing out of 11 homeless camps on private property throughout the city.

Tulley said he met this week with City Manager Mark Ryan and Assistant Police Chief John Lau to discuss the issue and plans to resume those discussions next week.

He said he has heard conflicting reports from the homeless advocates and police about the removal and disposal of personal items the homeless people had in the camps.

Police say they gave residents of the camps warning that they were trespassing on private property and needed to leave. They also gave the homeless fliers with information about community resources, including the Salvation Army and the National Veterans Homeless Support organization.

Police also said they did not clear out homeless camps at sites where property owners did not mind if homeless people were there.

Fire officials said the homeless camps were a safety issue, particularly with the campfires used for cooking, heating and nighttime lighting.

Separately, National Veterans Homeless Support founder and President George Taylor Sr. said he plans to seek changes from the Titusville City Council to ease the restrictions on people camping and panhandling within city limits.

He urged supporters to attend a city council meeting on July 12 and to be sure to register to vote so they can express their views in the November election.

Taylor and more than 100 supporters held a 1 1/2-hour rally Friday at Sand Point Park in downtown Titusville, and were joined by Tulley, who came to hear their concerns.

Tulley said he believes thinks the attempts to clear out illegal homeless camps stemmed from reports of homeless people panhandling and intimidating visitors to Titusville during recent space shuttle launches.

The final launch of the shuttle program is scheduled for next Friday.

Tulley, a Vietnam-era veteran, pledged to do whatever he could to work out a compromise involving City Hall, the police department and the homeless advocates.

He also asked for lists of personal items lost in the police visits to the homeless camps. He said he wants to consider whether there may be a need to somehow reimburse the people for the items lost.

"It strikes me that may be the right thing to do," Tulley said, in answering a question during the rally.

Homeless veterans who spoke at the rally said items taken from their camps included work tools, clothing, American flags and family Bibles.

Taylor said cash and supplies donated within the in the last week by local residents, veterans' groups and other organizations will help the homeless people from affected camps, which primarily were located off U.S. 1, State Road 50/Cheney Highway and State Road 406/Garden Street, as well as at the former Sand Point Plaza area, just north of downtown.

Tulley said he is sympathetic to the plight of the homeless, saying, "It's a pretty sorry country when we have homeless veterans."

But he said he has been told that the police department "went out of its way to try to inform someone at each camp" that the camps would be cleared, and that police provided people at the camps with resource information about groups that help the homeless.

"We all need to get to the bottom of this, and find out what really happened," Tulley said. "This is not an easy problem. This will be something that will be high on the list of things we talk about" during upcoming meetings with other city officials.

Taylor said he is consulting with civil-liberties groups and legal advisers to be sure the rights of the homeless were not violated.

"They have a right to be heard," said Taylor, who himself at one time was homeless. "They have a right not to lose their civil liberties."

He emphasized, though, that he has a high level of respect for Tulley and Titusville police officials, and does not want to take sides on the issue -- only to get the issue worked out.

Stephen Gross, a pastor at the Walk-About Ministry in Titusville, which helps the homeless, said after the rally that Titusville should consider establishing a special sales tax to help the homeless.

Senior Pastor Larry Linkous of New Life Christian Fellowship in Titusville, which has programs to feed the hungry, said the hunger issue is growing in the Titusville area, both among the homeless and among others struggling with finances.

"No one should go to bed hungry in our community," Linkous said. "We have a great challenge in our community to deal with the needy. For many people, the food runs out before the month does."

Contact Berman at 321-360-1016 or dberman@floridatoday.com.

Florida Today, Norman Moody, December 26, 2010

Click Here for Full Story

"The National Veterans Homeless Support with help from the community, businesses and local churches treated Suggs and 46 other homeless veterans to two nights in motel rooms, and gave them gifts of clothes, a tent, sleeping bags and other necessities for their return to wooded camps across Brevard County.

"I wouldn't have Christmas, if not for him," Suggs said pointing to George Taylor, founder and president of NVHS. "I'm so happy, this is a good Christmas."

Suggs, 48, who served in the Navy, said he has not been able to find a steady job since being laid off nearly three years ago from a county job as a backhoe operator."

Channel 13 News, December 27, 2010

Click Here For Full Story

"TITUSVILLE -- Fifty homeless veterans got help Christmas weekend in Brevard County. They were selected to spend the entire weekend at the Super 8 Motel in Titusville. Each person received about $600 worth of presents -- like clothes, food, and camping equipment. They were treated to several meals and spent Christmas together. One homeless veteran was amazed by the generosity shown to her.

"I am almost like emotionally paralyzed, I am so grateful. And it's been hard because Christmas is a very, very difficult time without family. Just to be remembered helps us realize that humanity still cares," said one homeless veteran.

The program is run by the non-profit group National Veterans Homeless Support, Inc.

They said there are over 4,500 homeless veterans live in the forests and parks throughout Central Florida.

This is the second year they've held the event and it's doubled in size... "

December 13, 2010

Click Here For Full Story

"Florida’s Governor, Charlie Crist, signed a proclamation Friday, Dec 10th, bringing PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) awareness into the Florida spotlight, and in so doing, made the plight and dream of a 20 year homeless veteran advocate and local community hero come true. "

"George Taylor, President of the National Veterans Homeless Support(NVHS), has been working towards legislation and awareness such as this with political and community leaders since 1991. Known as a tireless homeless veteran advocate, leader and local hero to homeless veterans, Taylor brings organizations together for the support and awareness of those he serves. "

"Monday, Dec 13th, 2010 marks the beginning of the first official PTSD awareness week in
 Florida and the beginning of what Taylor and other community leaders hope will be a turning point for the veterans suffering from the chronic condition of PTSD.

"An emotional Taylor said, “This is what I’ve worked 20 years for. Our veterans and" the community they live in deserve this and are best served by this awareness. I hope it leads to bigger things, and better healing. This is a victory for all of us who work together to make sure our veterans are understood and not forgotten. I thank all my friends and the community of vet support groups for working together to help make this happen. I also want to thank Miss Jackie Colon for helping make it a reality. This is a dream come true for our vets.” "

Florida Today, December 03, 2010

Click Here For Link 

"...In the meantime, National Veterans Homeless Support is working to help Campbell and the area's other 700-plus homeless veterans land on their feet. For the second year in a row, the organization is sponsoring "Warm, Full, Safe for Christmas," an event that will put Campbell and others like him into a local motel for two nights. While there, they'll receive gifts of clothing, basic supplies, sleeping bags, tents and other necessities, while also having access to warm beds, hot showers and hot meals.

"It's like a vacation," said Campbell, who is studying graphics technology...."

Channel 13 News, September 18, 2010

Article about our September 18th Stand Down event where we helped 227 Homeless Veterans and 105 Non Veteran Homeless Individuals.