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Letter to the editor

Safe harbor doesn't have to be a shelter

By Times Staff Writer
Published June 1, 2005

Last hurricane season, tens of thousands of Floridians went to emergency shelters.

Thousands more stayed home.

A Tampa man hopes to offer a different kind of shelter for people who want - or need - to leave their homes during a disaster.

Ward Cox has developed Shelter is Golden, a free program that matches volunteer hosts with people who need shelter.

Here's how it works: Prospective hosts and prospective guests fill out detailed questionnaires. Based on the answers, Cox matches people with like-minded interests and needs - for instance, pet owners are matched with other pet owners, families with families.

"We establish some degree of commonality," he said.

Guests bring food, bedding and toiletries. Hosts provide a safe and comfortable place to sleep.

So far, Cox has gathered a dozen hosts and half as many guests in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. He hopes to expand his network, and encourages anyone who wants to be a host, guest or financial donor to contact him.

"If there is a will to provide and a will to receive, we can do this anywhere," said Cox, a former social service worker and radio journalist who also runs a nonprofit mentoring group, For the Family.

For more information, call Cox at (813) 653-5239.

[Last modified June 1, 2005, 00:39:12]