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Hope Full: Homeless Camp Is At Capacity

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By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 30, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - One month after it opened, Pinellas Hope, a 10-acre campsite serving the homeless, has reached capacity. As of Friday, 225 tents served as temporary lodging for 243 people. Some are couples.

People are being fed, given medical care and are being shown opportunities for employment and training.

Pinellas Hope is a $1 million pilot project funded by Pinellas County, the city of St. Petersburg and retired businessman Harry Stonecipher. The project is coordinated and administered by Catholic Charities of St. Petersburg on land donated by the Catholic Diocese on 126th Avenue, west of 49th Street North in mid-Pinellas County.

With the camp at capacity, new residents are accepted only on Fridays to fill vacancies, said Sheila Lopez, chief operating officer of Catholic Charities.

On Saturday, Lopez walked briskly over the pine-needle-covered paths between the tents and trees. She called out to several residents by name, telling them she loves them.

"This is my passion," the 68-year-old said. "Helping people."

Guests are issued a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, personal storage locker and a bag for belongings.

Camp residents are running things alongside the volunteers, from maintenance to food preparation.

They have to volunteer five hours a week at the camp, Lopez said. "But I have some in the kitchen who volunteer 40 hours, and they love it."

Johnny Ptarcinski, 54, arrived at the camp Friday after spending 15 years in St. Thomas, he said. Last week, a St. Petersburg police officer approached him in a park and asked if he was homeless.

After running a background check on Ptarcinski, the officer offered to drive him to the camp Friday, he said.

The former New York resident is looking for work as an auto body repair specialist.

"I went to 30 body shops when I got here," he said. "Everybody said there was no work. Once they find out you're homeless, you're a marked man."

He likes the camp and feels safe there while he looks for work, Ptarcinski said.

"Anything beats sleeping on the streets," he said.

The fenced camp is clean, orderly and peaceful.

"It's wonderful," David Newman said.

The 41-year-old electrician and his girlfriend, Vonda Morris, 42, arrived at the camp three weeks ago from Tennessee. They've stayed in other camps and shelters and said they were concerned about a lack of privacy.

"It's a lot better," Newman said. "You have your own space. It's not everybody crowded on top of one another."

The organizers provide one meal a day - dinner.

Sixty percent of the residents live there because of economic reasons, Lopez said. Many are carpenters and electricians suffering from decline in the construction industry.

Counseling and medical care are provided along with day labor options. The goal is to help people transition into self-sufficiency.

There are 10 p.m. weekday and midnight weekend curfews. Residents voted to ban drinking and drug use. Bags are searched at the gate as they come in.

For some, it isn't easy to follow rules, Lopez said. About 35 people have left the camp since it opened.

"Some have gone because they have been placed" in a permanent home, she said. "And some are gone because they wanted to go or because they were drinking - and I don't tolerate that."

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has contracted with the diocese to patrol the area daily, said sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha. Deputies assist the staff, if necessary, with enforcing the camp's rules.

The camp will remain open through April 30, Lopez said. In 60 days, organizers will determine whether it's affordable to maintain the camp afterward.

Lopez said residents are prepared for a cold snap. Their sleeping bags are certified to protect to 20 degrees below zero and they received donations of sweaters, jackets, socks and underwear on Christmas.

"Santa Claus was very busy this year," she said.

Reporter Steve Kornacki contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@ tampatrib.com.

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