"Mr. Whibbs- I lament this development, as I know you have tried diligently to assist with our issues of the homeless and associated matters. I was under the impression you had secured funding for REAP lodges through the city and the COC. I will ask about this at our upcoming meeting because I know what you do to assist in this space is critical to our overall strategy of homeless reduction."
to which he responded, succinctly, "Thank you for anything you can do. Vinnie"
With respect to the vexing topic of eliminating/reducing homelessness locally--we need more folks on the front lines helping--NOT fewer. More to come Wednesday at our 9:00 AM meeting --- as I will be adding this as a topic for discussion on our agenda. Read the letter Whibbs sent this morning, below.
4 comments:
I honestly don't know why anybody is surprised by this. In fact, it's hard to imagine anything less surprising.
For a year and a half people were screaming from the mountaintops that REAP was a slippery slope cash grab. The answer I always got was "nobody else is doing anything."
True enough. The County was *VERY* late getting to the table on being part of the solution, while millions of federal dollars sat untouched and the City bore the burden of the homeless solutions. Thank goodness Escambia finally has an administrator who is taking it seriously now, but with a lackluster seriousness from the Board through years on end, it's a wonder he can get anything moved forward at all.
Also: I notified every news agency in this town last week and every official in the County that a homeless advocate told me that Waterfront Mission had closed down 200 beds during the heat wave. I got crickets.
The reason I came by that information is that I was *horrified* to watch their pastor conduct an interview with WEAR in a room of empty beds, so started reaching out to see what the hell was going on. Homeless advocate tells me "best kept secret in town." And people who don't want to rock the boat with them splain it away as "Well that's their model." Yes, it is. Which is exactly why they need to be relieved of their responsibility of their ten dollar a night homeless hotel. Great model for proselytizing; horrible model for real homeless assistance.
--EVERY HOMELESS ADVOCATE NOT PANDERING TO POVERTY PIMPS PREDICTED THIS WITH REAP.
--Waterfront Mission isn't trying to hide that they are a *MISSION.* One that *CHARGES* people to stay there and *KICKS PEOPLE OUT* during the daytime to go make their next ten bucks however they can. They also force people to testify to their Jesus. Waterfront is a mission that filters its potential coverts with a 10 dollar door fee and closes down beds any time they see fit.
Any coincidence Waterfront is closing down beds and REAP is screaming for more money right around budget time? (Intended to be read with maximum sarcasm.) Next up on the list of well-timed funding crises could likely be Lakeview, if this year is anything like some years in the past.
This is one reason I took a long break from homeless advocacy. I don't know why this town insists on operating in the same fashion it has from time immemorial, and then everybody is surprised when it garners the same results.
Commissioner, please ask your staff when they will release the CDBG funding for homeless shelter support that the BCC have already approved. Not saying it should go to REAP, but agencies have been asking staff and cannot get a direct answer.
Heads up Commissioner Bergosh: the Discontinuum of Care Consortium is running their typical games in advance of the meeting, trying to get people to fall down and advocate for REAP's continued funding from the Board. There's word going around to "Trust the process." Last time I heard that slogan, it was on a local contractor's website.
Also: what's REAP gonna do with the open grants they have right now, shift them around to another arm of their organization? How much money are they paying for that Palafox location that's part of their seeming real estate interests? I hope the commissioners are asking these questions in advance of the meeting.
And yes, what's up with CBDG? I gave up asking the question a while back 8:44. Thanks for bringing that up.
I suggest a thorough audit of their books and records! Where is the money?
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