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Category Archives: Community Interest

Homeless In San Angelo – Part 3 of 5

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Scott Heiser Posted in Community Interest, Homelessness, Public Invited .

CV Homeless Planning CoalitionAdam is a divorced, middle-aged man who has lived under a bridge somewhere in San Angelo for the past year.  He has bone spurs in both feet making standing and walking very difficult. He is a diabetic and often shakes uncontrollably because he has no way to control his diet. The possibility of going into diabetic shock is constantly on his mind.  He eats at the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen every day which is usually the only meal he gets in a days time.  Weekends are really hard, sometimes not having anything to eat except for an occasional orange or apple.  He also suffers from several depression and other mental illnesses which he has recently been keeping under control (taking his meds as prescribed).

Sometimes suicide seems like the only way out when you are suffering from severe depression. Adam has had several stays at Big Springs and Rivercrest hospitals because of his mental illness and suicidal tendencies. Not being able to work because of the constant pain exacerbates his condition.  He has been refused Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because of his admitted occasional use of marijuana which is the only thing that seems to give him relief from the constant pain caused by his bone spurs.  He told me that he does not smoke cigarettes nor does he drink alcohol but will smoke marijuana when it’s available. Other pain relief medication is not within his means because of the cost.

One recent bright point in his life is when he received a restored bicycle from Rust Street Ministries a few weeks ago.  He is now able to get around town without the intense pain walking causes him. Adam was one of the many people who received a free hair cut at The Ministerial Alliance. With his new bicycle, a roguish looking beard and a fresh haircut, Adam is ready to tackle life once again, albeit still living under a bridge.

I suggested to Adam that help is available for his bone spurs and that he contact the Wesley Nurse at the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.  She has a few options at her disposal, the most promising being a referral to the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DARS) where he can receive the medical care he needs (surgery to remove the bone spurs) along with training and job placement for a new career.  With a job and affordable housing, Adam will be empowered to prepare his own meals to better control his diabetes and prevent the return of bone spurs in his feet.

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Tags: homelessness, PIT Survey .

Homeless In San Angelo – Part 2 of 5

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Scott Heiser Posted in Community Interest, Homelessness, Public Invited .

CV Homeless Planning CoalitionCarol is a soft-spoken outgoing woman who lives in a one bedroom apartment she rents for $500 a month.  She receives a monthly disability check of $720 and a SNAP food amount of less than $50 a month. After paying her rent and her cellphone bill, she lives on the rest plus a small amount she earns cleaning the house of a wheelchair bound man. Her only transportation is the bus which she takes every day to the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen for a hot lunch and the camaraderie of her friends.

She lives in survival mode every day and has for more than two decades after fleeing an abusive husband with her two small children.  When her now grown children were just six and eight years old, she had decided enough was enough and left her abusive husband.  She and her children spent a month living on the streets until she was able to find a place to stay and a job.  She cleaned houses for a living but often availed herself of the generosity of the good citizen’s of San Angelo when times really got bad.  She knows which churches in town give groceries, clothing, bus passes and how often she can visit them. She is a survivor. She said that she often rides the bus around town so that she can help people lift their bags onto the bus and secures bicycles onto the bus, helping the bus drivers keep their schedules.

On Thursday, she had nothing else planned for the day, so I recruited her as a volunteer to help sort and put out clothing and bags of personal hygiene products (Blessing Bags) which were donated by Somebody’s Rusty and CrossPointe Church’s Homeless Ministry. She was an amazing volunteer and much appreciated. Throughout the day we had a few chances to sit down and talk.  The most amazing thing about Carol is her spirit. She loves people and would give the shirt off her back to someone in need.  She has a network of friends who are extremely important to her. All of whom are in the same basic place in life – surviving one day at a time.

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Homeless In San Angelo – Part 1 of 5

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Scott Heiser Posted in Community Interest, Homelessness, Poverty, Public Invited .

Homeless Stories

Over the next three days, I’d like to share with you the stories of three homeless people I met at the Point-In-Time Count event we held at The Ministerial Alliance on Thursday, January 21, 2016.  Each of the men and women I talk with are living in survival mode every day.  Most San Angeloans have no idea of what I mean by “living in survival mode every day.”

Survival Mode

Let me give everyone a few examples of what I am talking about:

  • Time happens only in the present.  The future only exists as a word.  Time is not measured but assigned based on the emotional significance (lunch time, time to take my meds, and time to catch the bus, e.g.).
  • When you can merely survive, having a cell phone is the only entertainment or distraction in your day.
  • You only have friends upon whom you can depend, and those relationships are important for survival.
  • A job is only about making enough to survive. A job is not about a career or saving for emergencies.

My recollections and observations reflect a brief half-hour or slightly longer conversation and not an in-depth interview or survey.  Each person had already completed the PIT Count survey before I talked with them.

A Challenge

Based on what you read about each person over the next three days, I would like to present you with a challenge. I would ask everyone who reads these posts to think about what and when we, as a community, could have done to  prevent or at least diminish the impact to their current circumstances. If we get enough people talking about these stories and posting comments, we may just be able to figure out how to close the existing gaps in supports and services in San Angelo for people experiencing homelessness and people at-risk of becoming homeless.

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Homeless Count – 2016 PIT Survey

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Scott Heiser Posted in Community Interest, Events, Homelessness, Public Invited .

2016 PIT Count

CVHPC Logo 2015It’s that time of year again when the Concho Valley Homeless Coalition and its many volunteers participate in the THN’s annual statewide count of people experiencing homelessness.  Our PIT count this year is happening on Thursday, January 21.

In past years we have sent volunteers out on the streets, alleys, under bridges, parking lots, etc. to find the homeless living on the streets. This has never worked out very well.  Last year we sent our 20 volunteers in very cold and wet weather for two or more hours.  When they all returned very wet, cold, and hungry, we had a total count of one (1) homeless person.

This year we are trying something different after conferring with several homeless related agencies, especially Debbie Berryman at the Salvation Army. We are staging a mini-event at The Ministerial Alliance; sending several teams of volunteers to the Stephens Central Library; and sending a team to the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen during their lunch time. The Salvation Army will be hosting two special evening meals and are being supported by several service men and women from Goodfellow Air Force Base.  We are also asking every transitional living facility in San Angelo to conduct their own count of their residents.

Purpose of Homeless Count

Homeless Woman in San AngeloThe purpose of the Point-in-Time count is to identify the number of people experiencing homelessness and those on the verge of homelessness. These numbers are then used by each community to determine needs as well as gaps in services. Numbers are also used in securing funding for more supportive services within the community.  Ultimately, the Texas Homeless Network reports these number back the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.

Volunteers Survey Takers

Volunteering to help us count those experiencing homelessness and at-risk of becoming homeless can often be an emotionally overwhelming experience so please know how much your time is appreciated.

The homeless coalition each year establishes counting places all over the city.  We rely on our great community of San Angelo to fill the volunteer positions on this one day a year event. All volunteers must attend a half-hour training.

We need volunteers to work a 3 hour shift at the Stephens Central Library – we need 2 teams of 3

  • morning starting at 9:00am
  • afternoon starting at 12:00pm

The Ministerial Alliance – This is a mini-event with haircuts and health screenings and more from 1:00pm to 6:00pm with a hot meal being served to the homeless at 6:00pm.  We need a total of 12 volunteers for the following shifts

  • 1:00pm to 3:30pm – 3 volunteers needed
  • 3:30pm to 6:00pm – 3 volunteers needed
  • 6:00pm to 8:00pm – 6 volunteers needed

Training

The headquarters for all PIT count activity is The Ministerial Alliance, 1110 Martin Luther King Drive. Volunteer Survey Taker half-hour training will be held at The Ministerial Alliance on

  • Tuesday, January 19 from 12:15 to 12:45pm
  • Wednesday, January 20 from 12:15 to 12:45pm
  • Thursday, January 21 from 10:00am to 10:30am

To Volunteer

To volunteer, send Rev. Scott Heiser an email at scott.heiser@cvhpc.org and let him know where and what time you would like to volunteer and what day you will be attending the training.

PIT Count Survey Form

Here is the PIT Count Survey Form – Please print as many copies as you need. 2016PITSurvey

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November 2015 Coalition General Meeting

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Scott Heiser Posted in Community Interest, Events, Public Invited .

November 2015 Coalition Meeting Date

As you are aware, our regularly scheduled meeting for November 11th is falling on a federal holiday this year.  Out of respect for the many veterans who will be attending Veteran’s Day events, we are postponing the November coalition general meeting for one week.

Meeting Date: November 18th, 2015 from 9:00am to 10:30pm

November 2015 Coalition Meeting Location

Also, we have elected to move the meetings to a different location each month,  all of them in neighborhoods that have homeless populations. We are doing this so that we can expose you, our members, to the neighboorhoods where many of your clients live.

Our November meeting will be held at:  St. Joseph Catholic Church, 301 West 17th Street – San Angelo

Future meeting locations will include Wesley-Trinity UMC (home of the “Daily Bread Soup Kitchen” ), Nazareth Presbyterian (host of Project Dignidad), Betel UMC (home church of Methodist Health Ministries) and a church in the Rio Vista (El Barrio) neighborhood.  We would like to also meet in the heart of the Blackshear neighborhood on 19th and Shelton at Galilee Baptist.

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Galilee CDCCVHPC is now under the 501c3 of Galilee Community Development. We are excited about this partnership which now allows the Homeless Planning Coalition to receive donated funds and apply for grants under Galilee CDC’s nonprofit status. The Coalition comes in as a program under Galilee CDC with its own advisory board and still operates with the same guidelines and mission statement but with the ability to have a bigger impact on the community.

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Recent Posts

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  • Social Services Assessment Event May 24, 2018
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Welcome to CVHPC

We are a coalition of like-minded individuals, business owners and non-profit organizations from both the public and private sector working together to more effectively help homeless people become self-sufficient in the Concho Valley.

Contact Information
Robert Salas
president@cvhpc.org
Phone: (325)655-0824

Mailing Address
Concho Valley Homeless Planning Coalition
Attn.: Robert Salas
1404 S Oakes St
San Angelo, TX 76903

2-1-1 Texas

If you are in need of help or resources and can't find them here, contact 211.

Board of Directors

Robert Salas (President)
Daina Schwartz (Secretary)
Stephanie Hamby (Treasurer)

Amanda Cruz
Dana Sercos
Lissette Alverio Perez
Mark Bethune
Lexie Wiley

Meetings

General Meetings
City Hall
72 W. College
East Mezzanine
2nd Wednesday of every month at 9:00 AM

BoD Metings
Galillee CDC
1404 S Oakes St,
San Angelo, TX 76903
3rd Thursday of every month at 11:30 AM

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