It begins.

I remember how great thing were in Deerlake, where me and all my savvy friends shared our lives on Xanga. Every night I would go on Xanga reading about how everyone’s day was, even though I had been a part of it. I would anxiously and nervously hope to find myself mentioned- in a good way. What better measure of popularity?

It’s been some years since then and I’m back to blogging. Not about my daily life.. well, kind of. This is simply my description/rant area of figuring out everything concerning homelessness in Tallahassee. I’ve been living in Tallahassee for about 16 years now. I went to elementary, middle, and high school here and now I’m in college. Being raised here, I’ve always felt that I knew Tallahassee for all it was. Basically I reduced Tallahassee to what I experienced in my day-to-day. But there’s more. What am I missing? Neighborhoods I never lived in, schools I never attended, another university, a community college. There’s probably the good and the bad. I was never exposed to much crime where I grew up, but it must be there. So? What have I been missing?

I decided to start my exploration with the homeless. Where are they? How many are there? Where do they come from? Where do they go? What happens to them when they die? What happens to them when they’re born? This chronicles my search for answers.

Well, “my search for answers” is kind of a glorification of what I’m doing. It will probably chronicle my poor first attempt at investigative and gonzo “journalism.” Now that I have a “potential failure” disclaimer out of the way, I want to jump right in.

I figure I’d start with a research phase, i.e. Google. This led me to the BBHC- Big Bend Homeless Coalition website, which looks like the central overhead for homeless aid organizations in Tallahassee. Good start. The BBHC has several documents, the first of which is Homelessness in Tallahassee. This is pretty much exactly what I set out to find; a quick list of facts about the homeless in Tallahassee. Basic facts: a 2005 street count and survey (summarized here) included 739 homeless individuals. 398 were adults, 341 children, about a quarter were veterans, and about a quarter were chronically homeless. Based on this data, an estimated three to four thousand experience homelessness throughout the year. Over 1,000 are estimated to be homeless daily in the Big Bend area. Trends: homeless population is getting younger, and there is a greater tendency to have homeless families and children. The top four reasons cited are lack of affordable housing, unemployment/underemployment, family breakdown, and lack of public transportation. Ending with some housing estimates: “Average rent for a two bedroom apartment in Tallahassee is $687 per month; at Minimum Wage, it requires 86 hours of work per week to afford a place to live; In Tallahassee, to afford the average two bedroom apartment, someone would have to earh $13.21 per hour. This is considered the ‘Housing Wage’ in our community.”

This is great for five minutes of exploration, I feel like an expert already. “Did you know that there are several hundred permanently homeless but several thousand transient homeless in Tallahassee? Yeah that’s right, I am a homeless expert.” Transient homeless. If I had a wife and two kids and I had a full-time job and my wife had a part-time job (because we can’t pay for daycare and there’s no one to watch the kids) and we both get paid minimum wage, I can imagine how missing a single paycheck means missing rent. So we are evicted, stuff our clothes in the car and live out of it for a month of two. Maybe we eat fast food and use their restrooms to wash up until we find another place cheap enough to stay. That’s my best guess as to how transient homelessness begins.

Now, on to how Tallahassee helps its homeless. The BBHC has a page for HOPE- Housing Opportunities and Personal Empowerment. They describe a “continuum of care” which provides services to those within any degree of homelessness. Let’s see what HOPE is about.

HOPE tries to lead the homeless to self-sufficiency. This sounds good because it isn’t a “hand out” and so isn’t subject to the arguments of big social programs, right? It will house a total of 164 people. 164? Out of the total 3,000-4,000? Here’s an excerpt:

“HOPE will distinguish Tallahassee as one of the few cities to create an environment that will pool and coordinate its resources in order to help end cycles of homelessness for families and individuals and move them into independent living. HOPE’s mission is to end homelessness, not just treat the symptoms. HOPE will model its services after successful centers in Miami and Homestead. Since 1995 those centers have served more than 40,000 people, a majority of whom move permanently away from homelessness – a major improvement over the typical approach, which yields a success rate of only 5 to 10 percent. More than just tending to the daily needs of the homeless, HOPE Community will help its residents find solutions to end their homelessness.”

It leaves 2729 W. Pensacola Street as the address. I can stop by there since it’s on the way to campus, close to the infamous Tallahassee Plane Crash of 2008. One argument the BBHC makes is that investing in HOPE will return a calculated $300 million over 20 years, by turning the homeless from tax consumers to tax payers. The bottom of the HOPE page has an interesting fine print- “A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.” That is probably public record establishing HOPE/BBHC as a legitimate 501(c)3.

Whoa cool! There’s an Emergency Services Brochure in the Resources section that lists all the resources in Tallahassee for the poor and struggling (as of January 2006). Places for medical care, StarMetro’s bus pass program, job training and placement, rent and utility assistance, social security cards and benefits, emergency/transitional housing, drop-in centers (places to stay for the night, wash up, or get some food, I think), meal sites, food and clothing, education services, mental health services, and substance abuse services. Also listed are the closest bus routes for all 57 locations. This is a really awesome list.

All that’s left of interest to me on the BBHC site is volunteering info. It lists that you can donate (of course) and some volunteer positions they need filled, like family case manager, receptionist, etc. For any questions, volunteer@BigBendHC.org, 576-5566 phone, 577-0586 fax, www.BigBendHC.org. That’s what I’ll try.

Okay, so I’m done exploring this webpage for now. Soon maybe I’ll work on getting in touch with the BBHC for some volunteering. Good day!