ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 TAG: 9612030043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Good Neighbors Fund
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
Dave Wiseman is a strapping 28-year-old with a firm handshake and a strong, confident manner to go with it. In his baseball cap and T-shirt, which reads: ``No Fear,'' he looks more as if he belongs in a college dormitory than in a shelter for the homeless.
And yet he spends his nights at the Rescue Mission and his days at Roanoke Area Ministries' day shelter.
``I don't look like I belong here,'' he agrees.
Wiseman has been homeless since he ran away at 15. He has lived with his parents from time to time, ``but it just doesn't work out,'' he said, and so he fends for himself.
Wiseman is the first to admit that he has made a mess of it. The only jobs he has held have lasted no more than two weeks, and he has never made enough money to support himself. His marriage fell apart, he hasn't seen his son in two years, and he has spent most of the past 13 years partying, doing as he pleased, and often feeling depressed and sorry for himself.
After all these years, Wiseman also knows how to work the system.
``Being homeless is not what people put it up to be,'' he said. ``There's no excuse for anyone going hungry or without clothes in Roanoke. There are at least six places where you could eat every day, and plenty of places you can get clothes.''
But ``I'm almost 30,'' Wiseman said, ``and it's getting scary. I don't want to see myself here 30 years from now. It's time for me to grow up and to take advice from other people. Doing it my way hasn't worked.''
Wiseman credits a drug rehabilitation program with helping him get back on his feet.
``I've mellowed out and changed a lot,'' he said.
Roanoke Area Ministries also has played a big part in helping Wiseman toward a new life.
Shelter manager Lottie Diomedi encouraged him to enroll in a GED preparation class, but to his surprise, when he took a placement test, he had such a high score that he went on to pass the GED itself.
With that behind him, he entered a job training program that will prepare him for a career in air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics. He also qualified for a grant that will allow him to study at Virginia Western Community College next semester.
This year, Roanoke Area Ministries is beginning a program to help its clients enter the mainstream of society through job training and placement opportunities, said director Wendy Moore. The efforts of Diomedi and other shelter workers give the organization an informal head start.
Wiseman thinks he is going to make it. The challenges facing him seem overwhelming, he said, ``but I'm going to give it everything I have.''
Monday's contributors included:
Lois Powers, in memory of loved ones
George C. Hunt, in memory of Lutie Belcher Hunt
Edna and Joe, in memory of Linda Naff
Warren and Pearl Woodford, in memory of Karen Woodford
The Whiteley Famiy
Carolyn Victorine, in memory of Lois B. Ayers
Judge and Mrs. Jack B. Coulter, in memory of Betty V. Adams
Martha Worrell, in memory of J.L. and Lena Worrell
Clare C. Morra, in memory of Marion K. Campbell
Lonnie and Andrea Daniels, in memory of Annette Uhlendorf
Nancy B. Kelly
Ed and Jane Kirkman
The Holtman Family, in memory of Harry M. Holtman
Chris and Andrew Conner, in memory of Mary Hess, Vernon and Ruby McCoy
Mrs. Andrew H. Thompson, in memory of loved ones
Agnes Roberson, in memory of Matt Roberson
Mary M. Martin, in memory of E.C. Martin
Dora Goad Brown, in memory of William Ezra Morris Jr.
Woodrow and Janet Obenchain and Shannon Salser, in memory of Kathleen St. Clair, Elva Viar, Bertha Brooks, Vernon Truman and Jane Salser
Bill and Elizabeth Martin
Jeff and Sandy Birch, in memory of Donald Birch and Harvey Eggert
Elaine Bocock, in memory of her husband, Clyde
James and Ollie Dowdy, in honor of Louise Gibson
John M. Kennedy
Neal B. and Grace A. Long, in memory of A.B. Harris Sr.
Josephine Via, in memory of the Rev. James Via
Herman and Mabel Naff, in memory of their parents, the Rev. and Mrs. D.C. Naff and Stafford and Mary Ramsey
Anna and Glen Mitchell, in memory of David Louis Mitchell
Gary and Mary Pat Metz
Donald and Karen Richardson and Family, in memory of Leonard Richardson
Murray and Arlene Stoller
Robert T. Hairston
Garland and Freda Metz
W.B. Shepard, in memory of Hazel M. Shepard
Barbara and Wilson Watts
Brenda and Dale Allen
Terry Steer, in memory of Bill Hill
John and Bernetta McGuire, in thanksgiving for their progeny and daughters-in-law
Grace H. Whaley, in memory of her husband, Benton M. Whaley
Carolyn Allen Burnett, in memory of Ernest and Hazel Allen
Skip, Diane, Joe, Mike and Dave, in memory of Charles E. Salmon
Charles and Loretta Manning and Bonnie Fauber, in honor of Irene and Fred Duncan
Robert and Pat Lewis, in memory of Virgil E. Lewis and James E. Thurman
Don J. Morris, in memory of Betty J. Morris
Guy and Mary Plymale, in honor of Addie Plymale
Dot and Lewis Creasy
John and Velma Fralin Dulaney, in memory of Ira and Ruth Fralin Bower, John and Nannie Fralin and John and Gertrude Dulaney
Iris and Pete Peterson, in memory of deceased family members and friends
Edna Follmar, in memory of Al Follmar
Gail and Robin Bushnell, in memory of William T. Bushnell
Mr. and Mrs. William Bottger, in memory of Dorothy Glass Gentry Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Hall
Vera Smith, in honor of Rebecca and Derick Jones and B.C. and Elizabeth Stout; and in memory of Lonia Smith
Dominion Equipment Appraisal Co., in memory of Betty V. Adams
Mary Ellen Calhoun, in memory of Mrs. Clayne M. Calhoun
Lillie W. Hurd, in memory of A. Davis Hurd
Eda Wynn, in memory of her mother, Regina Withers
In memory of and in honor of the Holloway and McClelland families
Martha Collyer
Jean D. Chapman
Lester Blackwell
Ron and Betty Crawford
Jim and Maruma Warren
Andrew Murphy
Col. Leo A. LaCasse
Preston and Virginia Bell
W. Harry and Joyce Moore
Isabel Porterfield
Daniel and JoAnn Beckner
Marie and Richard Fulcher
Harley and Joyce Crawford
W. Kent Murray
Ruth M. Davis
Raymond and Johanna Vuicich
ANONYMOUS DONATIONS $ 935.00
SUBTOTAL $ 5,610.00
TOTAL AS OF 12/2/96 $12,163.10
Checks made payable to the Good Neighbors Fund should be mailed to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke, VA 24008.
Names - but not donation amounts - of contributing businesses, individuals and organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
LENGTH: Long : 147 linesby CNB