Homeless Issues #19

Up-Date on Homeless Issues:

Art Edwards has resigned from United Outreach. From my conversations and working with him, he felt way too much resistance by UO board members to allowing day time use of the Perk Court facility for providing services to the homeless in our community. He will appear in another capacity within the homeless providers community. Art is a true believer and doer, when it comes to providing for our homeless. We met while we both volunteered at Grace Place shelter and he took over from Raz about 3 years ago. Maybe 4 years ago??

Our people are now scattered all over the place. Since the warmer weather, some have gone back up to the Pollock Pines area, dispersed to little hid-a-ways and have gone back to being invisible. Thank God for the Upper Room and a Lumsden Park as gathering places.

The present board members Of United Outreach have change the lock on the JSS Supply Closet without letting me or my crew know anything about it. Thus when I went to re-supply the van to make a drop-off at the Upper Room, I could not get in. It appears that they, the new United Outreach Board has confiscated all of our supplies that you have donated to JSS. Bibles for the Bible studies, socks, underwear, “T” shirts, warm clothes, sleeping bags, tents, personal hygiene items, and on and on. All the things that you people have donated to be given out to the homeless population of El Dorado County. We will have to restock and will keep going. As they, new UO, stay dry, only the homeless will get wet and suffer the consequences. One person stated that maybe they are so embarrassed that they could not tell me directly before hand. I had to track it down to find out that yes, they changed the lock. At least they had the insight to be embarrassed. They could have said, Ron move out!

Needless to say, the showers we were going to provide, and the laundry facilities will lay useless to the general homeless population. Ready to be used, sitting useless.

I want to thank everyone who has supported JSS over the years. We did, and will continue to make a difference in the lives of some of our homeless brothers and sisters. We will continue to look after our brothers and sisters who are known as “the least of these our brethren.” We will move on and look towards your continued support, with prayer, efforts, and financial contributions. This is just another challenge on life’s roads. We started with nothing except an idea, a mission, and we will start again. We will continue to keep homeless persons busy with something constructive to do by delivering support items to the homeless of our community.

Please stick with us.