By Patrick Butler
When the Smith County Coalition for the Homeless holds its second annual One Night Without A Home tonight, it'll be aiming to do a bit of myth busting. Taking a target on the misconceptions of homelessness, its comprehensive program will more than acquaint their participants in homelessness.
When the Smith County Coalition for the Homeless holds its second annual One Night Without A Home tonight, it'll be aiming to do a bit of myth busting. Taking a target on the misconceptions of homelessness, its comprehensive program will more than acquaint their participants in homelessness.
It's going to make them homeless for 24 hours, said Christina Fulsom, president of Smith County's coalition, which is part of the National Coalition for the Homeless. This week is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, sponsored by the nationwide group of nonprofit organizations.
Tyler participants in "One Night" will sleep outside at Bergfeld Park tonight -- under the watchful eyes of two Tyler policemen -- after a program that begins at The Salvation Army, 633 N. Broadway Ave, at 5 p.m. The group will march, not drive, to Bergfeld Park, about 1. 5 miles away, and listen to featured speakers and the Faces of Homelessness Forum.
Speakers include people who experienced homelessness first hand: how it happened to them, what it did to them and how they were freed from it. A mayoral proclamation recognizing the local coalition and nation efforts will be read, along with a Smith County commissioner's resolution. An inspirational choir from New Life Community Church will close the evening.
Then the experience begins. Sleeping outside in the cold is the easy part, Mrs. Fulsom said.
"There will be no creature comforts allowed," she said. "No cell phones, no laptops, no portable video games, nothing electronic at all."
Add money, jewelry and "imported" snacks to the list and what you have are the basics of being homeless, she said.
"It's you, the night and not a lot of options to do until morning," she said. "The cars (of participants) will be parked 1.5 miles away and that's by design so no one can jump into the car for warmth, or even go get something to eat."
There are 24-hour fast food restaurants near Bergfeld Park, but oops, no money, remember?
Not to worry for these faux homeless however, The Salvation Army will come with food from its canteen -- at 5 a.m.
At 5:30 a.m., the group will reorganize and talk with each other in a guided discussion on lessons learned.
"There should be a lot to talk about," said Mrs. Fulsom, who said this year's attendance is already greater than last year's in light of early registration for One Night. More students from Tyler Junior College and The University of Texas at Tyler are participating.
Speaker Steve Houston, the director of residential and social services at the Tyler Corps of The Salvation Army, said homelessness is not a disease.
"Homelessness can happen to anyone whose livelihood is dependent on jobs that disappear when the economy is bad," he said. "It can happen to those who get divorced, or when their house burns down and they have nowhere to go, or are in family situations that are so tense, they can't live there anymore."
The Salvation Army lodge in Tyler can house up to 200 long-term residents and, if needed, another 200 for emergency housing, Houston said. Sunday night, 96 residents slept at the lodge. More are coming now that it's getting colder.
The definition provided by the Federal Housing and Urban Development department includes those living at shelters, Mrs. Fulsom said.
"Every person who must seek shelter provided by an agency is considered homeless," she said. "People living in cars, abandoned homes, buildings, backyards, highway rest stops or even in overcrowded conditions in apartments where two or three families are sharing a single-dwelling apartment, are included. People in shelters often would be in those circumstances if it they were not at a shelter. They're homeless."
Another 94 homeless, then, are sheltered at the East Texas Rescue Mission, Tony Chung, the mission's director, said. And more are coming there too.
"From my view, the need is growing," Chung said. "It's evident. A lot of the guys we're seeing now have specific skill sets, but they can't find jobs. They're looking for jobs. Every day, they're up there at Labor Ready, but there's no work. We've helped some get work, but its tough."
Chung and Houston both said, "More are out there." And their agencies could use some help.
Chung said, "If we're sleeping 85 to 90 guys, we estimate there may be 200 more in different situations that would qualify as homeless. We've served 72,000 meals since we opened a year ago, Nov. 1. We house, heat and shower the men every day. We give them a place to sleep and something to eat. We could use anything that would help us continue to do that."
