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What's Brewing

Art with a view of home

By SUSAN THURSTON
Published May 12, 2006

Most of the kids aspire to be police officers, doctors and counselors.

Kiree wants to be a pediatrician. Breana, a librarian. Kawanii, possibly a dentist.

Anything to help others.

But for now, they are homeless, surviving on the help of Metropolitan Ministries, which gives them food, shelter and hope.

About 50 children took part in an art show last week to benefit and raise awareness of next year's count of the local homeless population, headed by the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County.

The children drew crayon and pencil pictures about their views on homelessness and family. Paris, a first-grader, did a sketch of her and her dog. "I care about my dog,'' she wrote in the caption. "I don't want him to get taken away.''

Joseph's picture showed life in a box, "because homeless people don't have a home. Some of them live in a box, and I'm caring about them.''

The two winning art pieces, voted by people who attended the May 4 show at the TECO building downtown, will be featured on T-shirts worn by volunteer census takers during the Jan. 27 count.

Events like these seek to increase awareness of the county's growing homelessness problem, especially among families. We see men hanging out downtown or along Bayshore Boulevard, but we don't see the moms and kids living day to day in hotels, shelters or cars.

Many of the families are working poor. They work minimum wage jobs but can't scrape together enough money for a deposit on an apartment and first month's rent. They may have an eviction on their record or drug and alcohol addictions. Many have exhausted invites to stay temporarily with family and friends.

Their alternative: spend $300 a week on a not-so-nice hotel and hope some landlord will cut you a break.

"Once you dig into a hole, it's hard to get out,'' said Rayme Nuckles, chief executive officer of the homeless coalition.

Services reach only 13 percent of the county's homeless men, women and children, according to the coalition. Nuckles says it breaks his heart when he has to hang up on a caller he can't help. And it happens a lot.

Kathy Wiggins, a social worker with the school district's Homeless Education and Literacy Project, recalled meeting a new family right before Easter. The little boy asked her if the Easter Bunny would find them in their car.

She assured him so, then proceeded to round up some candy.

An estimated 11,023 people in Hillsborough are homeless, based on the coalition's last count in 2005. The number was up 26 percent from 2003 and likely will jump even more next year as more people get priced out of their homes and apartments.

The moms and children at Metropolitan Ministries are among the luckier ones. The kids attend classes at the on-site school while their moms receive training and assistance. They live in a small but private room and eat meals with other families trying to get their lives on track.

Watching the kids proudly promote their art last week, you'd never know the struggles their families face. Third-grader Treane charmed the crowd with her picture about helping families. "Here is your food and clothes,'' one stick figure said. "Come right in.''

Treane likes staying at Metropolitan Ministries just fine, except for the "icky'' food, she said. Her goal? To assist others by becoming a doctor.

Money raised from the sale of the student artwork will go toward the homeless count. Results will help the county win federal and state money for programs to benefit the homeless.

Seeing the young faces of some of the benefactors certainly was motivation to give.

THE LAST DROP: Agree with the war in Iraq or not, you've got to admire Julie Whitney for her unwavering patriotism. A co-founder of the Bayshore Patriots, Whitney and the group have been waving flags at Bayshore and Bay to Bay boulevards every Friday afternoon since Sept. 11, 2001, to show support for troops at MacDill Air Force Base. Her efforts paid off big Tuesday when President Bush personally gave her a volunteer service award.

Susan Thurston can be reached at thurston@sptimes.com or 226-3394.

[Last modified May 11, 2006, 13:58:33]