Homeless of Gainesville need help
The homeless community in Gainesville is not doing well. The situation is bad and getting worse, regardless of what the news media says. The weather is cooling, and in two months, the homeless population here will double as people come south to avoid freezing to death during the frigid winter up north.
There are about 2,500 people without shelter right now, and opportunities for shrinking that number are few and far between. Tent City closed more than a year ago. Bo Diddley Community Plaza closed for a year of renovations in March, although several homeless people barely survive in nearby doorways. The St. Francis House is reeling, looking for dollars so it won’t have to shut its doors on the few who live there. The Salvation Army houses no one and recently cut 80 percent of its dinner meals.
Grace Marketplace near the airport is in total disarray with GPD responding to several calls daily and the administration lacking in a myriad of ways. Extra money allotted by the city for Grace is often misspent on kitchen renovations instead of beds for unused buildings on that property. Dignity Village, a misnomer at best for the tent community surrounding Grace, has been taken over by the city, which will try to straighten out a nightmare where people are knifed over a pack of cigarettes.
The sad fact is 90 percent of Gainesville’s homeless literally live on the street. By December, it will be near freezing. I have lived through a Gainesville winter in a tent, and let me tell you, it’s not fun and I hope that I never have to do that again.
The time is now for intelligent, common sense vision and spirited action backed by private donations from the wealthier individuals in the gated communities here. But do these people have a heart for those less fortunate than them? Or will it be the same old N.I.M.B.Y. (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome?
When you go to church this Sunday, will you propose a new church project to help these poor people? Or will you just sit in your pew for an hour and pretend they don’t exist? What would Jesus do?
Bruce Frendahl
Gainesville resident
