Help for the Homeless

hoh111009 (Added: November 10, 2009)

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By Phil Scoggins
Published: November 10, 2009

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Jim Southerland is a 37-year old homeless father of three sons. They moved to Columbus from Texas four months ago after he lost his job. Those four months have been some of the most frustrating of his life. "I've had a hard time finding work in Columbus," Jim says. "But I've met a lot of great people that's helped me out along the way."
People like Vicky Partin. She coordinates the volunteers from her church, St. Thomas Episcopal, who help with the Valley Interfaith Promise ministry or V.I.P. Vicky says, "It's a wonderful way for people in our churches to put a face with the word homeless."
Twelve churches in Columbus are on board to help V.I.P. provide food and shelter for homeless families. The churches care for their guests a week at a time. The commitment involves providing breakfast and dinner each day along with sleeping quarters. Many of the churches convert classrooms into bedrooms. The V.I.P. guests then rotate between churches. Each family is usually in the program anywhere from a month to six weeks. During the day the parents are job hunting while the children attend school.
Shanella Deweever is the case worker for Valley Interfaith Promise. She says the demand for their services has grown during the recession. She says, "We've got an influx of calls due to foreclosures and job loss."
Reverend Doug Hahn, the pastor of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Columbus, puts homelessness in perspective. Hahn says, "I think a lot of us are afraid to do the math that if it weren't for certain safety nets like family, extended savings, all of us would only be one or two paychecks away from homelessness."
Vicky Partin sees a shift in the homeless pattern. "Many people have misconceptions about who is homeless. More and more the stats are growing on families, entire families who find themselves homeless for many reasons most of us don't know or understand."
Vicky presented Jim and his boys with a goodbye card last Friday. It contained some spending money. You see, Jim and his sons boarded a bus that day and headed back to Texas. Jim got his old job back. A friend is putting them up. Valley Interfaith Promise helped out with the tickets.
Jim and his sons are not the typical homeless family seen by V.I.P. It's more typical for them to help single moms and their children. Regardless, Valley Interfaith Promise would love to reach out to more homeless families. For that to happen they need more churches to get involved. To learn more about Valley Interfaith Promise, go to their website: www.valleyinterfaithpromise.com.