CURRENTS

BRUNSWICK COUNTY HOMELESS COALITION

www.BrunswickCountyHomelessCoali4on.com VOLUME 2 NUMBER 1~~~~SPRING 2013

......................................................................................................................

BCHC MEMBERSHIP FOCUSES ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Resea Willis, CEO and President, Brunswick Housing Opportuni;es (BHO), was guest speaker on Tuesday, April 16th at the monthly mee;ng of the Brunswick County Homeless Coali;on (BCHC). One of BCHC's goals is to advocate for transi;onal and permanent housing. The membership had an opportunity to hear how since 2007 the founder of BHO has focused on crea;ng policy changes, building aordable housing, and educa;ng homebuyers on how to purchase aordable housing. The mission of BHO is to EDUCATE consumers to use exis;ng resources as a plaQorm to launch their economic independence; EQUIP consumers by giving them access with training to tools and resources previously out of their reach; EMPOWER consumers to use their training and prepara;on to take advantage of opportuni;es; and EXPAND dreams into possibili;es and reali;es. At present a work group of BCHC including members John Allen, Mark Filipovic, Bill Resea Willis of BHO gives the members of Hadesty, Fred Thorne, Roy BCHC an overview of programs to help the Tucker, and Barbara recently homeless and those a<emp=ng to buy Seran, have met monthly aordable housing. to educate themselves John Allen, Lloyd Gladden, Ki<y Kesler, Jim Polino, and Lynda about aordable housing and advocate for its presence in Brunswick Marlowe enjoy Ms. Willis presenta=on. County. BCHC's mission to advocate for the homeless and those in need involves facilita;ng resources to meet these needs. Our vision includes decreasing the incidence of chronic and transi;onal homelessness. Two of the goals of the BCHC work group are to encourage landlords to list aordable rentals on capefearhousing.org and to educate those seeking aordable housing as well as educa;ng those who are assis;ng others to seek aordable housing. The Brunswick County
...con=nued on page 2

...con=nued from page 1

Associa;on of Realtors has been contacted and we have discussed lis;ng aordable housing on capefear.org and learning the specics of the program. Calling 2-1-1, a statewide resource for informa;on conrmed that when inquiring about aordable housing, www.capefearhousing.org and NCHousingSearch.org were given as contacts. BCHC mailed informa;on about NCHousingSearch.org, a free service to nd and list housing, to many apartment complexes. The above

men;oned resources could help the seekers and those assis;ng the seekers to nd aordable housing to meet their specic needs including ameni;es, neighborhood features, and requirements to be met in order to be eligible for housing. Maintaining contact with Resea Willis and BHO and connec;ng with the services and resources available will strengthen our commitment to the mission and vision of BCHC.

CoaliAon Ambassadors Program Launched

BCHC is taking their message on the road. As part of our mission to educate and raise awareness concerning the problems of the neediest in Brunswick County, we have developed the Coali;on Ambassadors program. Eight BCHC members were trained on April 25 to be Ambassadors. They will travel in pairs to give presenta;ons at civic and faith-based organiza;ons throughout the county. Using a power-point slide show, ambassadors will explain the mission and vision of BCHC, past events that we have hosted, where we are headed, and how the audience can get involved. They will distribute a fact sheet highligh;ng the issues surrounding poverty and homelessness in the county and answer ques;ons. Many residents dont recognize that there are homeless people in the county or how many families teeter on the brink of homelessness. Coali;on Ambassadors is a program designed to dispel these myths. It is hoped

that by shining a light on the problems of the neediest more people will become involved in trying to solve those problems. County groups and organiza;ons who wish to take advantage of the program can contact Rita Caneld or Linda Wyac, Coali;on Ambassador co-ordinators, at 1-888-519-5362.

Volunteers Feed The Homeless

Shirley WyzgaJohnson says, When I came to my rst BCHC mee;ng, I knew that I wanted to do something hands-on to help those in need. She decided to partner with Streetreach to make brown bag lunches for them to distribute to the homeless. Twice a month she and her team of 25 women from Ocean Ridge assemble bag lunches. Each lady makes a lunch
!

and then drops it at Shirleys house. Shirley transports the bags to Streetreach for distribu;on. The lunches are a double blessing. They contain a sandwich, drink, fruit, chips, and cookies to be eaten that day, but they also contain pop-top canned foods, tuna or chicken salad kits, fruit or pudding cups, and peanut- bucer or cheese crackers which can be eaten over the next few days. Everyone benets from the person making the lunch who knows she has helped someone to the person receiving the meal who knows someone cares.

Brunswick County Homeless CoaliAon ATends Brunswick County Volunteer AppreciaAon Fair
Brunswick County Homeless Coali;on par;cipated in the 2013 Brunswick County Volunteer Fair & Expo and the Service Awards Ceremony. The fair was held April 17, 2013 from 3-7 p.m. at the Odell Williamson Auditorium on the Brunswick Community College campus. This event was held during Na;onal Volunteer Week. More than 35 non-prot and community agencies serving Brunswick County were on hand to meet with the public and promote local volunteer opportuni;es. BCHC members Barbara Seran, Wade Fulmer, Shirley Wyzga-Johnson, Diana & Bill Hadesty, James Polino, and Callie Spidle were present at the BCHC table to advocate for the needs of the homeless and provide informa;on. Other BCHC members in acendance were Fred Stephens manning the Brunswick Family Assistance table and T.K. Nowell manning the Brunswick County Sheris crime preven;on table. The event was an outstanding opportunity for other non-prots and area residents to hear the homeless message and how they can make a dierence. The BCHC members also talked to other non-prots and government agencies about their volunteer programs and how they could partner with each other. The program also included a formal awards ceremony that recognized the NC Governors Award for Outside Volunteer Service recipients. Over the past few months volunteers from BCHC have taken advantage of the opportunity to serve with our partners to help those less fortunate. Free Give Away sponsored by Light Ministries Intl oering the needy and homeless free clothes, furniture, home goods, and linens Hot Sit Down Meal at Licle River United Methodist Church, SC for the needy and homeless every Friday night Showers of Blessings at New Life Chris;an Fellowship each Monday evening oering a free hot meal and a place to shower and receive free clothes The food pantry at Brunswick Family Assistance Advocate for the homeless by acending mee;ngs about Aordable Housing sponsored by the Brunswick County Commissioners Through the Circles of Support program mentor previously homeless individuals with the transi;on from street living and assist with communica;on and life skills Provide transporta;on for Circle of Support individuals to medical appointments, grocery shopping, etc. Meals on Wheels at the Shalloce Presbyterian Church packaging Thanksgiving dinner for the needy and homeless Hosted a table at the Stewardship Fair to recruit volunteers and educate the community about the mission and goals of BCHC3

BCHC InvesAgates Lack of Public TransportaAon

Aler acending a mee;ng convened by Yvonne Hatcher to update the Local Coordinated Transporta;on Plan, several people in acendance decided they would meet regularly to learn more and to advocate for public transporta;on in Brunswick County. Members of the public transporta;on advocacy group include Tom Horan, South Brunswick Interchurch Council; Barbara Seran, Brunswick County Homeless Coali;on; Fred Stephens, Brunswick Family Assistance; and Roy Tucker, Southport Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship. The group met on April 11 with Yvonne Hatcher, Director, Brunswick Transit System, Inc, the non-prot formed to provide public transporta;on in Brunswick County. The groups consensus aler this mee;ng was to emphasize development of a new comprehensive Community Transporta;on Service Plan. The State of NC says that Community Transporta;on Service plans should be updated every ve years; however, the Brunswick County plan has not been updated since it was developed in 1996. Yvonne said that the Department of Transporta;on ocial with whom she spoke in early April said that Brunswick County is third or fourth on the list of coun;es for upda;ng the plan, that they now have three consul;ng rms under contract to update the county plans, and that work on the Brunswick County plan should begin in late 2013 or early 2014. The group will meet with Don Eggert, Director, Rural Transporta;on Planning, Cape Fear Council of Governments on April 25. Don facilitated the mee;ng to update the Local Coordinated Transporta;on Plan. Aler mee;ng with him, the group may meet with ocials involved in public transporta;on and transporta;on planning in prepara;on for mee;ngs with Senator Bill Rabon and Representa;ve Frank Iler.

BCHC meets the third Tuesday of every month at 6 PM at St. Brendans Catholic Church. All are welcome.
Members listen intently at a recent BCHC mee=ng.

Did you know?

16% of county residents

Contact Informa.on
BCHC PO Box 6313 Ocean Isle Beach 28469 1888-519-5362
4

(18,023 people) received food stamps in December 2012. 61% of students in Brunswick County Public Schools received free/reduced lunch in the 2011-2012 school year.

Currents is a periodic publication of the Brunswick County Homeless Coalition Editor: Kitty Kesler and Publisher: Susie Kubley