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Runs Dec. 1 through March 31
YOUNGSTOWN
The primary goal of Monday’s seventh annual Homeless Walk was to raise awareness of the plight of homeless individuals and families in the Mahoning Valley.
“We do this (the walk) every year to support homeless people who do this every day” seeking shelter and food, said Diane Baytosh of Boardman, a member of Help Hotline Crisis Center’s Project for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH).
Baytosh’s walking mates finished first among the approximately 50 who participated in the walk from the St. Vincent De Paul Society Dining Hall on Front Street to the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. They were Brigdet O’Keefe of Youngstown and David Cunningham of Austintown, also PATH employees.
The Homeless Walk also kicked off the 25th year for Help Hotline Crisis Center’s Cold Weather Emergency Shelter Program, which runs now to March 31, 2015.
People who have no place to stay, primarily between 9 p.m. and 7:30 a.m., can get help through Help Hotline by dialing 211 or 1-800-427-3606.
“Our staff and volunteers work with individuals and families to find shelter and other assistance. Often, that means staying where they are for another day or week,” said Robert Altman.
Also, he said, Help Hotline provides transportation in outlying areas or when the weather is at its worst.
The picture many have of the homeless is the few who actually live under bridges and along the Mahoning River or huddled in doorways or in abandoned structures to get out of the inclement weather.
However, the federal definition of being homeless is much broader.
According to the United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency, a homeless person is someone who does not have or is about to lose stable housing.
The primary shelter in Mahoning County is the Rescue Mission.
In 2014, the total number of “bed stays” at the Rescue Mission decreased from about 5,200 in 2013 to 4,715 this year, but there has been an increase this year in the number of women, Altman said.
However, said James Echement, Rescue Mission executive director, the mission is not a “flop house.”
“The old paradigm of the poor house that most people in the Mahoning Valley seem to have of the Rescue Mission is that it is a place to hang out and do nothing.
The way to address the old paradigm is for people to come down and see what is going on at the mission, Echement said.
“It’s all about transforming lives and getting a new start. We have extraordinary resources in hand for those who choose to clean up what they have messed up,” he said.
“People who stay here are going to work, learn and change. Those who don’t, will find their stay here limited,” Echement said.
Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally urged residents to help by contacting the city or the Rescue Mission if they know of anyone who needs a place to stay.
The goal of the Cold Weather Program is make sure no individual or family is homeless during cold weather, said Vincent Brancaccio, Help Hotline executive director.
“Basically, we don’t want anyone to freeze to death,” he said.
If someone needs help, they can make a simple call to 211, Brancaccio said.
As the sign carried by Homeless Walk participants reads, ‘There is a warm place to sleep tonight,’ he said.