News

December 22, 2007

Encouraging hope during annual homeless service

Event gave voice to those who can’t speak for themselves, says charity official.

By SHERRY LONG slong@timesleader.com

Homelessness doesn’t just affect large cities like New York City and Los Angeles. It’s also a growing problem in Luzerne County, Volunteers of America officials said.

Believing it’s important to bring awareness to the issue to help end homelessness, the Luzerne County Homeless Coalition held its second annual Homeless Memorial Service Friday afternoon at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church to coincide with other homeless memorials being held across the country.

“The purpose of the event was to be a voice for those who may not be able to speak for themselves,” said Bill Jones, Volunteers of America’s vice president and chief operating officer.

Organizers wanted to bring attention to the blight of homeless people, including Iraq War veteran Robert Zarnoch.

When Michael Keslosky, homeless veterans advocate, first met Zarnoch about five weeks ago, the former combat vet was living with Vietnam and Korean veterans underneath the Market Street Bridge. Zarnoch now resides in Kingston House.

Keslosky said his heart goes out to the veterans because he was once in their shoes – a homeless veteran struggling to survive day to day.

“People in the community don’t realize every one of us is one paycheck away from being homeless,” Keslosky said.

Keslosky said he’s outraged that any men and women who risked their lives serving for our country are homeless.

“There should be no homeless veteran. We are the richest and most powerful nation in the world. We need to take better care of our veterans who served this country with honor and distinction before the number of homeless veterans increases with the ending of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as they did when the Vietnam veterans returned home,” he said.

Monsignor Joseph Kelly of Catholic Social Services encouraged people to not despair for there is hope, he said.

He told the story of Ed. A man who retired young, but has not stopped giving to the community.

Every week, Ed volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen and after lunch is over he treats three homeless men by taking them to the movies.

“We need to look and catch people doing good because so many of the people don’t want to be recognized for their good deeds,” Kelly said.

“We need to encourage one another with the good stories.”

Locally there are a few places homeless men, women and children can seek shelter.

VISION, a men’s shelter in Wilkes-Barre, provided 8,000 nights of shelter for more than 300 men in the last year. Ruth’s Place, Wilkes-Barre, which started operating on a year-round schedule three months ago, provided 1,015 nights of shelter for women since September. Volunteers of America opened Manna House Apartments, Wilkes-Barre, in July to serve as a transitional housing program for eight homeless young adults ranging in age from 18 to 25. Since October, the apartments have been at capacity and now has a waiting list.

While these shelters try to help as many people as possible, other homeless people like Zarnoch sleep under bridges or in the doorways of local churches to stay warm and without proper housing many have a much shorter life-span than someone with a permanent roof over their heads.

“On average, a homeless person’s life is 36 percent shorter than a housed person’s life,” according to a study conducted by the Los Angeles Coalition for the Homeless.

Immediately following the memorial service, a brief candlelight vigil was held in the church’s courtyard to remember local homeless men and women who died in the last year.

“The important thing to remember is that these deaths are entirely preventable,” Jones said.

“We can no longer be indifferent to the needs of those without adequate housing, food and healthcare.”

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