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City homeless mission faces closure over funds
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Friday, July 27, 2007 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/072707_par-03.jpg) |
| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSK |
| K.C. Conner and Cassondra Wilson, both of St. Petersburg, make sandwiches for homeless people at the Suncoast Haven of Rest Rescue Mission. |
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PINELLAS PARK – The Suncoast Haven of Rest Rescue Mission may close its doors due to lack of funds, leaving homeless people and poor families without food and other services.
The Rev. Lionel Cabral, executive director of the facility at 5625 Park Blvd., said the mission has been experiencing financial problems for some time.
He said it has worsened as the nation’s economy nosedived in recent months.
The mission provides bagged lunches, boxes of food, counseling and other services to homeless and poor people from throughout Pinellas County.
So bad are the money woes, Cabral said, that the mission could not afford to pay for condiments for sandwiches it distributes to homeless people at day labor facilities.
Cabral said if the mission closes there will be a lot of hungry people looking for food. The facility has been in operation for nearly two decades.
The mission also supplies other organizations with bread it picks up free from food distributors.
“Hungry people do desperate things,” Cabral said.
The mission until recently fed about 100 homeless people each night at its Park Boulevard facility. That was stopped when local merchants and pedestrians complained about the influx of street people in the area.
It now provides about 5,700 food bags each month, mainly at the city’s four day labor businesses and at other Pinellas County locations. Additionally, it distributes canned goods and other food to poor families.
Cabral said that his mission shares bread loaves with Pinellas County charities, saving them thousands of dollars annually in food costs.
Just recently the mission had to come up with nearly $2,000 for bread crates used to transport loaves. He said hundreds of them over time came up missing. Food distributors are still willing to donate bread, but not the crates to transport them.
“One of our trucks is in the garage and we cannot afford to pay for the repairs,” Cabral said.
Cabral said his own personal car, a 1985 General Motors model, also is inoperable due to unaffordable needed repairs.
To help deal with the financial issues, Cabral and others have created the Pinellas County Shelter Program aimed at getting churches more involved in homelessness by providing temporary living quarters for street people.
“There are over 200 churches in Pinellas County,” he said. “They could open their doors to the homeless when church buildings are not in use.”
Cabral said the idea is to provide a cot and a blanket to street people between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. He said his mission would provide box meals so food distribution would not be an issue.
“These folks could get help if they are in a comfortable and safe place,” Cabral said. “At that point we could provide medical treatment and programs to help find them homes and even jobs.”
Cabral said many people and organizations have ended financial contributions. He said that is partly due to a crippled economy, rising property taxes, increasing insurance costs and a higher overall cost of living.
“We distribute over 400,000 loaves of bread annually,” Cabral said. “That is an impossible feat without vehicles and the thousands of dollars we need each month to keep them on the road.”
Those willing to help can stop by the shelter at 5625 Park Blvd. or call 545-8282.
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Article published on Friday, July 27, 2007
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