‘Hope for the Homeless’ event raises support

July 15, 2012 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Diversity is a hallmark of the Dispersers, a local band, partly because its members range from a doctor to a Youngstown State University student.

Diversity also goes a long way toward describing those who rely on services the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley provides.

Many of the mission’s clients are facing a wide range of difficulties such as homelessness, drug and alcohol problems and financial hard times.

Financial challenges also loom large for the mission.

“The Rescue Mission’s fiscal year ends in September, and they’re likely to be about $100,000 in the red,” said Trish Latimer, a five-year volunteer.

Latimer also was capturing the main thrust of Saturday’s second annual “Hope for the Homeless” event at the Royal Oaks Bar & Grill, 924 Oak St. on the East Side.

The daylong fundraising festival to benefit the Rescue Mission featured six local and regional bands playing 60- to 90-minute sets, including Bourbon Brothers, The Dispersers, Sonny and the Deliciously Odd, Trust Mission and Horses Have People Teeth.

Also featured was a buffet, raffle drawings and a silent auction.

Latimer, who also coordinated the fest, said the mission is in a tight situation largely because the need for its services has increased while donations have dwindled. The agency receives no state or federal funds.

Latimer did not provide a financial goal for Saturday’s festival but noted that last year’s brought in about $2,500 for the mission.

Also eager to help the agency was Mark Stafford, who plays guitar for The Dispersers, the local five-piece band that formed about four years ago and also features an 18-year-old drummer as well as the doctor, who plays the harmonica.

“You have to have great passion to work [at the mission]” said Stafford, a YSU senior who’s majoring in social work.

Stafford, who also is fulfilling an internship at the agency in its men’s services department, said that despite the mission’s outreach, some misconceptions persist.

“People don’t have a clue about what goes on down there,” he said. “Some people are one paycheck from being homeless or without funds.”