More than 630 meals were served for free to Gainesville’s homeless Thursday morning as part of the 12th annual Breakfast on the Plaza and Homeless Services Fair.
The city’s homeless were encouraged to come out to the Bo Diddley Community Plaza for a free meal and access to any of the resources organized by the Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry.
One of the event’s main organizers, Cheryl Twombly, spokeswoman for the department of children and families, said that 1,350 eggs were cracked to prepare the breakfast meals.
Twombly said last year, about 430 meals were given out, but the number of people served Thursday was probably around 300.
She explained that during an event like this, it’s all right for people to get back in line because that way they don’t have to worry about where the day’s next meal is going to come from.
Bags filled with food and hygiene items were also handed out free of charge.
The event was funded entirely by donations.
Those who attended the event were given access to about 38 services including haircuts, legal counseling, pet food, bike repairs and replacement IDs.
The consensus among organizers was that the IDs were the most valuable service available. This is because having a valid photo ID is integral to getting other services to help lift people out of homelessness, said Earnest Graham, crime prevention officer for GPD.
The most popular request Graham got was for bike locks. He said he handed out at least 200 at the fair.
Graham said they’re actually gun locks that were donated by the National Rifle Association as part of a program to prevent children from using guns in the household. Since there haven’t been many requests for gun safety sessions, the surplus locks are put use by homeless on bikes, tents and bins used to store food and personal possessions.
Alachua County Commissioner Rodney Long served as the event’s speaker. He gave out awards to distinguished individuals and businesses that are helping the homeless in the community, such as Freddie Wehbe of Gator Domino’s.
Gator Domino’s was one of the first to sign on to a new program that will allow the homeless to use their electronic benefit transfer cards at certain restaurants.
Electronic benefit tranfer cards work like a debit card with a specified balance of food stamps.
A pair of donated bikes were also raffled off to the homeless attendees.
In an interview, Long said that at events such as this, food may be the attraction, but that the services provided are the true benefit.
Often, homeless people don’t have the means to seek out each individual service, so it’s easier to present them to them, Long said. The event gave an update on the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness Program. The situation for Gainesville’s homeless is better than it was five years ago, but it will continue to be a problem until housing is available, Long said.
Dan Kahn, case coordinator for the homeless social security program at Three Rivers Legal Services, said the fair gives him an opportunity to see what the community can offer so he, in turn, can provide better advice to his clients.
However, Ellen Allen, founder of the Good Neighbor Society, a group that goes into poor areas and tries to help people directly, said she found the event wasn’t as helpful as it could be.
“For the day, it helps,” she said. “The people who work for the bureaucracy don’t have a clue what it’s like to be poor or homeless.”
Allen said the main problem is that there isn’t enough housing for the homeless.
Commissioner Long echoed her sentiment, saying it’s difficult to fight for an issue where people don’t feel like spending money gets them results.
“It’s a hard battle,” Long said.
