THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290479
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 82 lines
A two-and-a-half year battle to help the city's homeless ended with a vote and a prayer Tuesday evening.
``Let what happened tonight become a light for all who are in need,'' the Rev. Randy Orwig of Tidewater United Church of Christ said in sharing a prayer with about 50 advocates for the homeless.
The impromptu hallway blessing came five minutes after the City Council voted 11-0 to build a daytime service center for the homeless.
The decision was greeted with cheers from the advocates, who had brought flashlights into the council chambers to indicate their desire to bring light into the lives of the homeless.
The city received an $800,000 grant in fall 1994 to open a homeless shelter, but council members and a task force set up to figure out how to spend the money failed repeatedly to agree on plans and sites.
The five-part proposal approved Tuesday is a combination of several plans. It includes:
A $700,000 service center to be built on 18th Street just west of Cypress Avenue in the resort area. The homeless would receive counseling and other services at the 3,500-square-foot center, but would not spend the night.
The continuation of the winter shelter program, sponsored by local churches and synagogues. The program provides a place for the homeless to sleep during the cold months of the year.
Transportation between the day center and the churches providing night-time shelter, at a cost of $50,000.
$50,000 would go to the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, which provides nightly shelter to the homeless, to complete its Blumenthal-Schor Education Center.
Transitional housing to help the homeless move from shelters to a permanent home. Funding for this housing would come from any cost savings in the construction of the day center and other grants and contributions.
The winter shelter program helps about 400 homeless people a year. The new services will be designed to help at least that many people, according to Andrew M. Friedman, director of the city's department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation.
The city will not fund or operate the day center, Friedman said, but will contract with an independent group to run the facility.
Brenda McCormick, one of the city's most outspoken advocates for the homeless, said the money would be much better spent on beds where the homeless could spend the night than on a building where they could receive daytime counseling.
``It's very hard to recover from homelessness when you're always in motion,'' said McCormick, a member of the city's Homeless Task Force.
Several other people spoke in favor of an alternate proposal made some months earlier by the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center to build a homeless shelter in the resort area.
Richard H. Powell, executive director of the center, ``fully supports the council's decision,'' according to a letter he sent Tuesday to the City Council.
Theresa Stanley, co-chairwoman with Rev. Orwig of the Winter Shelter Task Force, told the council members she was thrilled with their decision.
``You have taken a big step tonight in addressing the root causes of homelessness,'' she said.
The city hopes to have the day center completed in late fall, before next winter's winter shelter program begins. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
VICKI CRONIS
The Virginian-Pilot
Amanda Stanley, 10, and her sister, Amy, 13, shine flashlights in
support of the homeless during City Council's meeting Tuesday in
Virginia Beach. Their mother, Theresa Stanley, and the Rev. Randy
Orwig were co-chairs of the Winter Shelter Task Force.
VP MAP
VICKI CRONIS
The Virginian-Pilot
The Rev. Randy Orwig, right, co-chair of the Winter Task Force,
leads, from left, Joanne Schihl and Chris and Audrey Fritschmann in
prayer after a City Council meeting Tuesday.
KEYWORDS: INDIGENT HOMELESS SHELTER GRANT VIRGINIA BEACH
CITY COUNCIL