Inter-Communal Dialogue -Take One

Last night we gathered with friends that are following down this windy and joyous path of communal living. We discussed struggles, dreams, questions, and details. We realized we were different in places we assumed overlap and we overlapped in so many ways that we were all pleasantly surprised by. Food, gardening, kids, and HIV prevention were a  few overlaps that seemed to emerge. Hospitality is the never-ending value to be wrestled with and explored and we spent a good amount of time sharing stories or the good, the bad, and the ugly. Advice was given and received. Questions were asked and answers were pondered.

It felt good and right to share our collective experience this way and I am excited about what fruit may come of this dialogue. May God breathe life into all that we do.

Please speak up!!!

ACTION ALERT - Gov. Budgets Cuts ALL Homeless Funding and Programs

Governor's Scott's proposed budget cuts ALL $6 million in homeless funding!  This includes:

$3,000,000 for Homeless Housing Assistance Grants

$2,031,354 in Challenge Grant

$   345,729 in local homeless coalition staffing grants (Hillsborough gets $12,000)

Florida has at least 57,643 homeless people (2009 numbers).  $6 million is roughly $104 per homeless person - a very small amount.

The budget also includes language that would repeal the authorizing legislation in section 420.622, F.S., for the State Office of Homelessness, the Council on Homelessness, Challenge Grant program, and Homeless Housing Assistance Grant program. If enacted, these homeless initiatives would end on July 1, 2011.

WHAT YOU CAN DO - TAKE ACTION NOW!!!!

Call the Governor's Office and ALL your State Representatives and Senators and let them know you oppose these cuts.

Let them know:

• You care about your homeless neighbors and oppose these cuts - to the funding and repealing the programs
• These cuts will hurt your community by eliminating services and new housing - critically needed to help get homeless families and individuals back on their feet
• The $6 million equals a mere $104 per homeless person in our state
• Share any story you have about someone being helped through these programs.

Share this email with your co-workers, friends and family, Face Book friends and other social media contacts, associates, memberships, volunteers and anyone you know cares about their homeless neighbors. 

HOW TO CONTACT the Governor, Senators and Representatives

Governor Scott's Office - (850) 488-7146 (to send email, go to www.flgov.com, select contact Governor Scott, and then email Governor Scott.)

Know who your State Senator and Representative is but not how to contact them?  Find their contact information in the 2011 Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation directory.

Don't know who your State Senator and Representative is?

To find out who your State Senator is and how to contact them, visit http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find and enter your address.

To find out who your State Representative is and how to contact them, visit http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/representatives.aspx, click on 'find your representative' and enter your address

Please call TODAY and let them know you do not support these cuts!!!

Bitter Sweet

I just came from the city council public hearing at which the partial ban on panhandling was shot down. I would have thought I would have been excited but I feel very sad. I am sad because after 100 people that showed up to say their two cents worth, the council looked at each other and picked right back up where they had left off. Partial ban or full?  By the way only two of the hundred who spoke said they were in support of this ban. The council Charmian Thomas Scott said that there were only two options, a partial or full ban. The option of just not legislating at this time wasn’t even on the table. Of course that was the outcome because it was shot down but the discouraging part was that all five of the councilmen that voted no, did so because they actually want a full ban. The only two people up there who voted with their consciences were Scott and Mulhern, both of whom voted yes trying to compromise. I disagree that a compromise is a permissible outcome and keep thinking to myself that the best our city council has is these compromisers. Scott said at one point that if he could just single out panhandlers and ban them he would but that he cant because his hands are tied (by the constitution by the way). It was one of those moments where you get really patriotic and thank God for a document that prohibits these fools from just doing whatever they want. Where are the leaders who can listen to their city AND make right decisions? Who can be lead by their constituents as well as moral authority and ethical convictions? I am so disappointed in our city council right now and pray that the upcoming elections would yield more people who actually are leaders that live out their convictions.

One last thought for Council Chairman Rev. Thomas Scott, there is this verse in Matthew that keeps ringing in my head. This is the only time Jesus ever described what judgement would look like and he said ‘I was hungry and you didn’t feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me something to drink, I was naked and you did not clothe me’ and in this same spirit I can hear him saying now ‘I was in need and asking for help and you compromised and legislated me out of the public eye, depart from me for I never knew you’

Matthew 25

Here is the first TBO article I saw after the hearing

An urgent call to stand up and be heard!

Isn't there something right about living in a city where you can find a meal if you need it. Isn't it actually a good reflection on our city that we have such a huge homeless population here? Wouldn't the fact that the outcast and the hurting feel a little more safe, a little more cared for, and possibly even a little less hated in our city than others be a point of pride in Tampa. I can't tell you how many homeless friends have expressed that Tampa is a city where you don't have to go hungry. Don't we want to preserve this relationship with the poor? Aren't places like Ybor, where the rich and the poor actually share the same sidewalks, beautiful because of their economic and cultural diversity.

Our city has progressively gotten more hostile toward our neighbors in need as the economy has worsened and the numbers and visibility of those needing help has drastically increased. Laws and ordinances prohibiting panhandling are being discussed and passing in our city council. While they are being pressured by businesses and the wealthy in our community they are still in a position to make decisions on what is right and just and fair. They are elected into office and are kept there by making decisions that the city (their district) will support. Sadly the poor and homeless are in many cases not voters, whether felons or just disaffiliated, their voice and their cause is not being heard. There is an urgent need for voting citizens to stand up and be heard. To advocate for our friends and neighbors who are going with out and sustain themselves off the generosity of others. Please come to the public hearing that is being held tomorrow at 9am at 315 E Kennedy Blvd. on the 3rd floor. Each person will be given 2-3 minutes to speak to the council and be heard. We need to let our city officials know that we are not in support of this law and that if further actions or ordinances are passed to the detriment and  relegation of the poor in our city we will be forced to pull our support and campaign against these leaders that are working against the most needy in our community.

This ordinance is directly addressing the panhandling population and legislating their right to ask for help under the issue of public safety. Of course our city has addressed public safety issues and passed ordinances regarding the caution vests, daylight hours, and age requirement to be on the streets. There is also no data that has been presented that demonstrates a public safety problem. This is an issue of living in a society that is uncomfortable with, and hostile toward the needy. They are despised and rejected. Take a few minutes to talk with someone who panhandles and they will tell you about the terrible things our neighbors scream out their windows at them. They are not out there because it is easy or preferable to work. They are not lazy or dangerous. They are needy people. They are fathers, brothers, mothers, and friends. They are people and they have a right to make their needs known and this is protected by our first amendment right. Of course our clever city council is only addressing transactions between vehicles and pedestrians on our city's main arterial roads. While this is a step in the wrong direction it is not, as our mayor and some councilmen hope for, a complete ban. It is however directly effecting 500-600 jobs because the newspapers can't be sold on the corners, directly displacing the poor from the most visible places in our city, and catering to our least conscious and concerned neighbors. I want and cherish the opportunity to give a sandwich or a dollar to a neighbor in need. Don't you?

Plus our city is cutting cost all over the place and has limited resources for the police force and cannot really afford to enforce these laws. If a corner has no accidents then we don't spend money on a traffic light and this same principle should be called upon here.
These leaders must be accountable for how they are using our money as well as how they are considering ALL of our community members.

Please come and make your voice heard. Invite your peoples.

"...if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet
 and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them
...his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.'" -Is 33:6

I love you all and hope you will join me tomorrow morning,