Charlotte Sun Newspaper 12/18/09
By:  PAMELA STAIK Staff Writer

  FUTURE PUNTA GORDA HOMELESS SHELTER BLESSED

PUNTA GORDA - Hope and possibility were in the air Thursday as more than 20 people crowded around the balcony of a two-story home along the 3700 block of Ash Street.  Here, community members held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and blessing for the most recent homeless student shelter project by Restoration Roads Ministry, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Charlotte County.  

     Presiding over the ceremony was the Rev. George Cooks of First Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, who thanked God for inspiring locals with the drive to help local youth overcome adversity.

     "You've given them such a vision for those who are hurting, those who are in need," he said.  Cooks then asked God to bless all who will come to live in the home, known as the Restoration HOPE Home.  The acronym stands for Helping Others Procure Education.

     This isn't the ministry's first attempt at trying to meet the needs of homeless youth.

     In December 2007, the nonprofit organization began working toward opening a homeless teen shelter on the corner of Harbor Boulevad and Stillwater Avenue.  Called the Stillwaters Home, the shelter was meant to be a co-ed haven for 18 students between the ages of 14 to 17.

     While the group received a $980,000 grant from the county's Hurricane Housing Recovery Program, a series of unexpected construction costs caused the venture to fall flat.

     As board secretary Cheryl LaVecchio explained, this failure led to the ministry's latest initiative - opening a rental home in Punta Gorda for four unaccompanied young adults who have been deemed homeless or "in transition."

     According to the McKinney-Vento Act, a federal law that povides services to homeless people, children and youth are considered homeless if they "lack a fixed, regular and adequate nightime residence."

     This includes, but it is not limited to, students who "double up" with other families or live in hotels, campgrounds, emergency shelters, abandoned buildings or vehicles and public spaces like parks or wooded areas.  Homeless children and youth are also described as those who are awaiting foster care placements or those who have been abandoned at hospitals, the law states.

     "Some of these kids have been couch-surfing, living in woods, moving from friend's house to friend's house, or been taken in by pastors or teachers," LaVecchio said.  "We want to give them a regular nightime residence."

     The three-bedroom, two-bath home in Punta Gorda will serve students, as residents must be enrolled in either Charlotte County Public Schools or be considered an adult student at Charlotte Technical Center, Edison State College or another local school of their choosing.
     
     The age range is between 18 and 24, and all the residents must be male, LaVecchio said.

     As it stands now, the four slots will be filled by two transitional adult students from CCPS, as well as two students who were referred to the ministry through the Children's Network of Southwest Florida.


     The latter group of referrals are those who have aged out of foster care and have been enrolled in the Road to Independence Program, where they receive a monthly stipend from the state.  LaVecchio said 30 percent of these checks will be used to pay for their rent at the home. The two CCPS referrals will live in the home for free. 

     Sometime in January, the ministry hopes to open the Punta Gorda HOPE home.  While the home is secured, organizers are still in need of donations to offset operating expenses.

     LaVecchio said the ministry is actively looking for people who can donate $25 per month for an entire year.  Also, Restoration Roads hopes to open four additional homeless shelters in the next two years: a female-only home in Punta Gorda, two homes in Port Charlotte- one for each sex- and another shelter in Englewood.

     For information about how to donate money to the cause, visit www.restorationroads.org or call 941-204-4180.

Email:  pstaik@sun-herald.com