People in need get help at Project Homeless Connect
By ALEXANDRA CALDWELL
Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008  |
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| Photo by ALEXANDRA CALDWELL |
| Eugene Jr. Watford, 6, and his mom, April, get breakfast from volunteers at Project Homeless Connect Sept. 27. |
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CLEARWATER – The Watford family packed their belongings into their two cars a few weeks ago and moved to Clearwater from New Jersey to start a new life where there is warm weather, palm trees and dolphins.
But along the way, food, gas and lodging ate through their savings, and a history of bad credit made it difficult to find housing in Clearwater, even with a Section 8 voucher.
The family of four is now homeless.
The Watfords joined the line of 881 homeless people to get free services Sept. 27 at Project Homeless Connect, hosted at the Harborview Center. The event provided 4,840 free services including medical screenings, free breakfast and lunch, haircuts, housing placement, ministry, and free backpacks filled with a blanket and personal items.
Representatives attended from The Haven, which helps victims of domestic violence; the Self-Help Center, which provides legal assistance for small claims and family law issues for $1 a minute; the Pinellas Opportunity Council, which provides rent, mortgage and utility assistance and other services; the IRS; the American Red Cross; Simply Hope, Inc. transitional housing; immigration lawyers and defense lawyers. One person registered people to vote.
Eugene Watford, 38, said they had visited numerous landlords, but to get housing, there is a credit and background check.
“We have bad credit and I have a background,” Eugene said. “You know, something I did when I was young, but you pay for it way down the line.”
April Watford, 35, said she has a background and poor credit too, so finding housing has been difficult, especially since neither of them have started a job yet since moving here. Even to get into some of the shelters they need good credit or a job, she said.
“So now we start from the bottom and have to climb our way back up,” Eugene said.
The first challenge was to enroll April’s 16-year-old daughter, Janesia Harris, and their 6-year-old son, Eugene Jr., in school. They said that was challenging to transfer the paperwork and to figure out which school they should attend since they don’t have permanent housing. Now with that settled, April and Eugene said they can focus on jobs and housing.
After many phone calls and knocking on doors, they found a landlord in Clearwater who was willing to let them stay in a house for a week while they worked on acquiring a security deposit, they said. Then he extended that another week, allowing them to house-sit for him while he went away on business, Eugene said. They’re to keep the yard and the house clean and ensure nobody breaks in.
“We feel guilty,” April said. “I mean, we know he’s done it out of the kindness of his heart, but we feel guilty about running his water bill up being there, using his electricity.”
Eugene said he’d had a job lined up when he came down, but his employer went on vacation so he said he can’t find out about it yet. He said he’s a good laborer and will do just about anything. April said she got her nursing job transferred to Clearwater but has been so busy with finding housing and getting the kids in school that she hasn’t been able to pursue it. And the day they did try to drive there, they got lost and couldn’t find the office, she said.
“Right now we can’t live for the future because of what’s happening to us right now,” Eugene said.
Their faith and Eugene’s sense of humor has kept their spirits up as they fight to get back on their feet.
“He’s the calmer one,” April said, “and he always encourages me in the Lord and says, ‘Honey, things will work out. The lord has a plan.’ And that’s been helping me out. That’s the good thing about marriage is because when one is weak, the other is strong.”
Despite their round of troubles, the Watfords said they have been blessed by kind people who have crossed their path, and they love the beauty Clearwater offers.
“Everyone comes here to retire,” Eugene said, “but I want to be here when I’m getting ready to retire. If a hurricane comes, I’ll just duck.”
After the Watfords made it inside the Harborview Center, volunteers were assigned to each family member to guide them through the services. Eric Miller, the volunteer assigned to Eugene Jr., struck a rapport with the 6 year old as they played with a string of green, plastic beads.
Eugene Sr. got a free bus pass as the rest of the family posed for pictures for social services ID cards. A bag of combs, lipstick and other makeup sat near the photo booth.
A volunteer walked around passing out free condoms.
The Watfords lined up for the required medical screenings where they got their blood pressure checked, blood work done and consulted with a physician. Then they could finally eat breakfast.
Eugene Jr. played in the child care center while his parents got the services they needed. Soon his face was painted like Spiderman.
In one corner of the center there were free haircuts and manicures. Chris Curtin, a hairdresser from Gregory’s Salon in Dunedin, was cutting Clayton Moorefield’s hair. Moorefield, 20, has been homeless for three or four months, he said, and lives in Coachman Park in Clearwater.
Halfway through the event, Curtin, 35, had cut about 10 to 15 people’s hair. He said he now feels thankful for what he has.
“I have a lot more than I realized I did. But it’s tough for everyone. I’m not far from where he is,” Curtin said, gesturing to Moorefield. “A couple of paychecks or I lose my job or I hurt myself, then everything that I have can get taken away. And everyone in America is that close to being here. You might think there’s always jobs for those wanting to work, but that’s not always the case.”
Moorefield agreed. He dropped out of school after 10th grade and can’t find a job, he said.
Rob Stuller, a homeless man from St. Petersburg, waited in line for a haircut. He said he got a divorce, things happened, and he became homeless. He works every day through a labor company, he said, but doesn’t earn enough for housing. Stuller has been homeless for six months and said he sleeps outside of the Salvation Army.
Robert Turley, 50, said he has been homeless in Largo for eight or nine months.
“I just can’t find no work,” Turley said as he got his hair cut. “The economy is bad. That’s about it.”
Turley said he is a painter and has been living with friends on and off. When he can’t stay with someone, he’s on the streets.
At another booth, a church gave out free T-shirts and sweatpants. Across the aisle there were free sanitary napkins. The Department of Veterans Affairs provided services and free boots to veterans. About 25 percent of the homeless are veterans, said Betsy Clement, public communications specialist for the city of Clearwater.
Duane Kinnison sat at the Pinellas County Schools booth. He is the north county resource teacher for homeless education assistance. He said last school year the schools identified 962 homeless kids, but he knows there are more. He helped parents enroll their children and said they also provide free tutoring in the shelters and a summer program.
Hundreds of volunteers helped facilitate the event and guide people to stations. Ajoy Kumar, 35, of St. Petersburg was one of them. He is a doctor at Bayfront Medical Center and said he’s amazed by how many of the homeless used to be his patients. He said he saw one of his former patients who told him last year she volunteered at this event but this year she’s homeless. Kumar said the event has opened his eyes to how quickly life can change.
“If you look at it, people are all the same. That’s what I got out of this,” Kumar said. “Regardless of how much you make or how little you make or if you don’t make anything at all, everybody has the same hopes and fears. Everybody. It’s just opportunities and resources.”
After an exhausting day, April Watford had gotten medical, dental and eye screenings, talked to social services about housing and daycare for Eugene Jr., got her backpack of goodies and a manicure with her daughter. She emphasized how thankful she is for all Project Homeless Connect had done for her family and for so many others. She said she hopes to volunteer next year to give back to the community that helped her.
April hopes people understand how easy it is to become homeless.
“Don’t judge people for their situation because you don’t know how they got there, what circumstances brought them there,” April said. “It could happen to anybody. Today, tomorrow, the next minute. People who are homeless, they don’t want to be homeless. It’s just the way that something happened. Everybody who is homeless has a story behind their homelessness. People don’t want to be without. It’s not that they choose to be like that, and they don’t choose to be poor.”
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Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008
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