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Hernando Today

Homeless coalition attains $12,000 goal

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: November 4, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - As of Jan. 1, there were 185 people listed as homeless in Hernando County.

Throughout Florida, about 83,391 people are homeless on any given night.

Barbara Wheeler said she cannot solve the entire homeless problem, but she can push efforts to make sure the homeless or potentially homeless receive the support they need in the form of shelter or necessities.

That effort took a big step forward Friday when Wheeler, executive director of the Mid-Florida Homeless Coalition, announced she had reached her goal of collecting $12,000 in financial donations, which allows the nonprofit group to access a $100,000 matching federal grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money will be used to hire an employee and purchase a computer and software to track data from the four-county area and make it accessible to HUD.

About $6,000 was raised locally, thanks to an outpouring of financial aid from Realtors, builders, Hernando Progress and private citizens.

With that goal attained, the nonprofit coalition can now set its sights on obtaining $2 million in federal stimulus money to help coordinating efforts among Hernando, Citrus, Lake and Sumter counties.

That money will be used to help shelters, provide education programs for the homeless and prevent people from becoming homeless.

Of the $2 million, Hernando County would receive $600,000.

"We have to come up with ways to help keep people from becoming homeless and keep them off the street," Wheeler said.

The coalition has been forced to solicit money now that county governments, including Hernando County, cut all match grant funding to nonprofit groups.

Citrus County, however, kicked in $6,000, Wheeler said.

Hernando County has a men's homeless shelter capable of housing 12 males and a woman's shelter with five beds. Both are operated by Jericho Road Ministries.

Statewide, there are about 228 shelters with a total of 8,561 available beds to house homeless persons, according to the Department of Children and Families.

"This is really a neat public-private enterprise coming together to really help the community," Hernando County Association of Realtors (HCAR) President Marilyn Pearson-Adams said of the local donations.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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