THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411050096
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
An $800,000 federal grant earmarked for the city's homeless could end up in social workers' paychecks instead of being used to build a permanent shelter in Virginia Beach.
Advocates argue that providing the homeless a roof over their heads that they can count on is the best approach to solving the problem that comes out of hiding every October when temperatures dip to near freezing.
While federal guidelines for the money do not exclude construction of a shelter, counseling and job training are high on the list of possible uses for the funds, said Andrew Friedman, director of housing and neighborhood preservation for the city. He said that finding a site for a shelter could be an insurmountable obstacle.
But Brenda McCormick, an advocate for the homeless, does not think that hiring more social workers would address the real needs of the 500 or so disenfranchised people the city must deal with from October through March each year. ``What they need is a roof over their heads,'' she said.
The ideal solution encompasses both approaches, said Deborah Maloney, who directs the city's winter shelter program for the Volunteers of America. But whether the new federal money can be spread that thin remains to be seen.
The grant, awarded last month, must go for ``capital costs connected with innovative homeless activities,'' said Friedman. A panel of citizens and officials will decide how the money should be spent. Any proposal must be approved by the city and federal governments.
Using the money to hire yet more social workers simply perpetuates ``a poverty industry,'' said McCormick. It is a system, she said, which keeps those at the bottom level of society where they are with no chance to improve their lot. ``It's a scam.''
This winter, as has been the case for the past six years, the homeless are provided a bed to sleep in each night in church facilities on a rotating basis as part of the seasonal shelter program run by VOA.
Still, the homeless problem is growing, despite the cooperative efforts of a number of nonprofit organizations, including some 30 churches and synagogues, said VOA Director Maloney.
``It's a growing problem'' - one which will not be solved ``as long as we just keep toting them around to churches,'' she said.
Maloney said that counseling and job training combined with permanent shelter could be the answer. Rotating nighttime shelter does not provide the homeless with a place to keep belongings or transportation to job interviews, she said. Nor does it deal with the issue of a telephone and mailing address for those seeking work.
McCormick, too, would like to see a permanent shelter built, though she does not think it will happen. ``They could be put up in motel efficiencies for the money'' that is being spent to run the church-based shelter program, said McCormick, who six years ago helped form Mothers Inc., a group of ``poor people'' from 10 neighborhoods at the forefront of the effort to help the city's homeless.
While a permanent shelter is at the top of McCormick's and Maloney's wish lists, some high hurdles face those who must come up with a plan to spend the federal money.
Housing Director Friedman said there is resistance to many possible sites for a permanent shelter because of what he termed ``behavioral difficulties'' of the homeless. And buildings such as a facility within Oceana Naval Air Station's noise zone is just ``not a good idea,'' he said, referring to the scrutiny Oceana will face from the Base, Realignment and Closure Commission early next year.
Despite the obstacles, advocates for the homeless hold out hope that a permanent shelter will be built.
The Rev. Fred Guy, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church and chairperson for the Winter Task Force for homelessness in the city, called the federal grant the ``latest ray of hope'' for those who must find a place to sleep as the nights lengthen and temperatures drop.
``We're doing plan B now,'' said Guy. ``Our goal has always been'' a permanent shelter. But as to a site for such a facility, Guy said, ``we haven't even dreamt that far.''
KEYWORDS: INDIGENT PEOPLE HOMELESS by CNB