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Two new centers to offer a hand up

A church and a nonprofit to build a home base for the homeless.

By SHEELA RAMAN
Published February 18, 2007

TARPON SPRINGS - Care for the homeless in North Pinellas will soon get a major upgrade, thanks to a partnership between a church and a nonprofit agency.

On 5 acres owned by St. Timothy's Lutheran Church, two new facilities are expected to go up over the next year at a combined cost that is likely to approach $2-million:

- One is day-use and drop-in center where the homeless could store their stuff, do laundry, take showers, get clothes for job interviews, and receive mail and telephone messages. It will be the first center of its kind in Pinellas County.

- The second is a new branch of Community Health Centers of Pinellas, which will serve anyone in need of affordable health care.

The two new facilities, plus an existing low-rent apartment complex nearby and the Tarpon Springs police station across the street, are expected to provide a nexus of relief and transitional opportunity for the homeless community, said Ronald Moldenhauer, president of the St. Timothy's congregation.

"A day-use center has long been a dream for us in the greater Tarpon Springs area," Moldenhauer said. "But there hasn't been the appropriate building, space or circumstances until now."

Although groundbreaking could occur as early as May, Moldenhauer said both facilities will probably not open until late 2008.

St. Timothy's will pay for the day-use center. Although the cost of the project has not been set, the facility is expected to include showers, laundry equipment, lockers, a free telephone and postal boxes.

The phones and mailboxes will make it possible for the homeless to seek employment, because most employers will not consider an applicant without an address or a telephone number, Moldenhauer said. The Shepherd Center of Tarpon Springs will work in conjunction with the day-use center to provide homeless individuals with clothing appropriate for a job interview, he said.

A 2006 countywide census of the homeless found 4,710 people living on the streets in Pinellas. Past surveys have determined that more than half of the county's homeless tend to live in St. Petersburg, but there have been some hard-to-count homeless residents who camp near the Pinellas-Pasco county line.

The new Community Health Center will be funded by a $1.7-million federal appropriation awarded in 2004 that was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, and former U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs.

It will be larger and more open than the existing Community Health Center of Tarpon Springs, which operates out of the county Health Department office in Tarpon Springs, said Patricia Mabe, chief executive officer of Community Health Centers of Pinellas.

Last year, she said, the Tarpon Springs branch saw about 2,700 patients, and this year, she expects about 3,400 patients to seek treatment. Mabe said the organization chose to use the federal money for a new Tarpon Springs facility because its analysis showed the area most needed it.

Patients are charged using a sliding fee scale based on income. Those at or below the poverty level receive free care courtesy of Pinellas County Health and Human Services, Mabe said.

"It's important to note that the center is not only for homeless people," she said. "We realize there are a lot of others out there right now without health insurance."

Community Health Centers of Pinellas has been searching for a site for a new center since it received the federal money, Mabe said. The organization is grateful to the church for allowing it to lease the land long-term at a relatively low cost, she said. Negotiations on the lease are still under way, but it will be for at least 25 years, with a 15-year renewal, if the mission of the center is maintained, she said.

The new, 8,000-square-foot health center will provide basic medical and dental care and will emphasize preventative and holistic medicine, Mabe said. Doctors will focus on keeping patients immunized, and there will be nutritionists on hand to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Moldenhauer said the church will most likely choose a contractor who is a member of the congregation to build the day-use facility. The size of the facility has not been determined, but Moldenhauer said there will still be room left for other projects on the land after the two facilities are completed.

With the project in the planning stage, Community Health Centers has notified several developers about the planned project but has not made a final selection, Mabe said.

Sheela Raman can be reached at sraman@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 17, 2007, 20:19:38]