Local Needs
Much has been said about the financial collapse (government bailouts for wall street, middle class being pinched, housing foreclosures) but little has been said about the increasing level of poverty & homelessness on a local level. Personally, I was aware of many pockets of homelessness, such as the Apopka Farm Workers that has been on our outreach. Yet, I was ignorant of the breath & depth of this impact on Orange & Seminole counties until spending time with a coalition of churches working together to provide a safety net.
These monthly meetings have been sobering experiences. On one end, you hear about stories of middle class Americans who have suddenly joined the ranks of the homeless through layoffs, downsizing & outsourcing of jobs. Because our governments offers little in the way of a safety net, these individuals & families often find themselves losing their homes when they cannot find work in a tough economy. There are stories of single mothers living out of their cars, taking their children to school, trying to pull themselves out of this disaster as most Americans do - individually.
Unfortunately, our culture has such a stigma associated with homelessness that somehow these people have failed. The reality is that many of the new homeless have enjoyed working for long stretches of time & now are depressed, unsure of what it will take to feed their families, let alone get a job. UPDATED 12/02/09
What's Happening Now?
2009-12-20 CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY. Volunteers or donations are needed for this effort to provide meals and gifts for children at Oviedo Aquatic Center on December 20th.
2009-12-09 Food for the homeless, Kathy Anderson & about 9 volunteers will be meeting at the UUUS on Wed, December 9th at 10AM to make sandwiches for the homeless. The food will be supplied by Social Concerns.
UPDATE: 12/02/09 HOPE Foundation has the following immediate needs: Someone to install a 20 line phone system. 2: Computer donations with Windows 2003. 3: Someone to set up the computers. They're also looking for volunteers that can provide specific services for those in need: dentist, roofer, teach computer skills, etc. Dawn Foster has written a brochure at the back of the sanctuary if you're interested in taking part.
2009-11-25 Several UUUS volunteers took part in the effort to help out FUMCO to feed some 500 homeless. Thanks to Joie Kohl working as a laison with our members and this organizing effort.
2009-11-17 Social Concerns related individuals and businesses completed a major upgrade for the Hope Foundation to provide better lighting while reducing their carbon footprint.
2009-11-15 FOOD DRIVE CONTINUES... I want to thank the efforts of the many UUUS members and friends who have donated to this effort. We have regularly been taking items: food & clothing to their premises. Today there was an especially large donation (filled up the back of DSymond's Volvo) due in part to one of the UUUS teenagers who had asked that all of of her birthday gifts be donated for the homeless.
2009-10 UUUS began a Food Drive to support a nearby food pantry.
2009-09-12 Social Concerns volunteers helped in the morning to cleanup one of the Village of Hope's buildings. It was a first effort for our working together, & we would look forward to future efforts. At present we would like our members to become aware of what is happening, & take part in a local food drive. We have provided a green container at the back of the sanctuary, marked 'Food Bank.' These non-perishable foods will be taken to the Hope Foundation.
2009-09 The Destiny Food Bank collapsed; they were an excellent organization & the local impact hurts. In its place, SC has shifted monies reserved for this group to the Hope Foundation. Hope runs a food pantry & thrift store in Oviedo & is in the process of opening a campus, 'Village of Hope,' that will cater to provide services through volunteers & local agencies (Seminole County, Good Will, Salvation Army) to provide food, clothing & retraining.
Please let SC know if you have a concern or something to be added for this page.
Local Support Information:
- FOCUS is a grassroots, multicultural, interdenominational community organization that empowers families with leadership
training & skills that build relationships for community change. The mission of FOCUS is to develop grassroots leaders
& empower people to take action to improve the quality of life for families in Orange County.
(Note: Isabel Caridad Fernandez spoke to the TripleU on 2009-09-20- Audio Page.)
www.focusorlando.org - Aziza & Wakil Brown have a blog (http://www.worldalign.blogspot.com/) & youtube videos concerning homelessness in our area & interviews with some TripleU members- http://www.youtube.com/theworldalign.
- HOPE Foundation works to prevent & reduce homelessness in Central Florida by equipping individuals & families to become
self-sufficient through Housing, Outreach, Prevention & Education. Sonshine Community Thrift and Food Pantry, 149 E. Broadway,
Oviedo, Florida 32765, 407.366.3422.
www.helpforthehomeless.net
UUUS Charitable Involvement includes the following:
- Ongoing Food & Clothing Drive for the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida
- UUUS Share the Plate Program
www.universityuus.org/sharetheplate.html - Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida
www.centralfloridahomeless.org - Office for Farm Worker Ministry
www.offm.org - Planned Parenthood of Central Florida
www.plannedparenthood.org - Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida
www.foodbankcentralflorida.org - HOPE Foundation http://www.helpforthehomeless.net/ EmailSC
- UUSC (Unitarian Universalist Service Committee)
http://www.uusc.org/ - Holiday Greeting Cards
www.uusc.org/holidaycards - Guest at Your Table
- Justice Sunday
www.uusc.org/justice_sunday/ - Equal Exchange Fair Trade Products, including including Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Chocolate, Pecans, etc. Part of every purchase goes directly to fund the programs of the UUSC environmental Concerns
