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Volunteers Take Home-Cooked Holiday To The Streets

Tribune photo by D'ANN WHITE

Members of THORN Ministries serve a Thanksgiving meal to homeless people in Tampa on Thursday.

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 27, 2008

TAMPA - There was food aplenty but fewer guests than expected to share the feast as volunteers for THORN Ministries traveled to several locations in Tampa frequented by the homeless to deliver Thanksgiving dinners.

It wasn't because there is fewer homeless people, explained one homeless man who did take advantage of THORN Ministries' hospitality. With the state of the economy, there are more people on the streets than ever before, he said.

"It's just that there are so many groups out feeding the homeless today," he explained, declining to give his name. "They come out of the woodwork during the holidays. Everybody wants to help this time of the year. But THORN is here every single week all year round. These are good people."

THORN, an acronym for Thankfully Helping Others' Real Needs, was started by Riverview resident Kristin Taylor on Thanksgiving Day 1997. She and her team of volunteers feed the homeless in parking lots and beneath overpasses in Tampa every Sunday.

However, the 30 THORN volunteers who gave up Thanksgiving celebrations with their families Nov. 27 hosted only 150 homeless people.

Many of the homeless were new to the streets and reluctant to give their names out of embarrassment. Others refused to talk, saying they were angry at the media for taking away their dignity.

"They come here and take our photo without asking us like we're nobody, like we're animals in the zoo," said one man.

"A lot of people treat you like a nobody," another homeless man at a parking lot on Jefferson and Cass streets near the Greyhound Bus station explained. He'd been on the streets four weeks and said he was still getting used to the idea of having no home, no address. "It really hurts your self-esteem. People think all homeless are drunks and drug addicts. But some of us have just had some real bad luck."

Well-spoken, apparently educated, he said he's confident his luck will change.

"The last thing you have is hope," he said. "If you lose your hope, you've lost everything."

Listening nearby was another new member of the "residentially challenged," as he called himself. A computer science major a Purdue University with years of experience as an information systems analyst, this homeless man who also refused to give his name said he'd been on the street exactly 41 days.

"It's been quite a revelation for someone who had never even been camping before," he joked.

He wasn't quite as hopeful about his future, however. He's said he's a convicted felon. Any time he applies for a job and the potential employer learns about the felony conviction, he's out the door.

"No one will hire me," he said. "But I just found out about this. Maybe I'll give it a try." He holds up an advertisement for a Web site: JobsforFelonz.com. "The shame of it is some of the best workers are ex-offenders because they are so anxious for that second chance."

Both men say they've found the food and the people who serve it from THORN Ministries to be a godsend. They don't preach or try to convert or lecture. The volunteers simply serve home-cooked meals with a smile and treat them as friends.

"Everybody appreciates them," said the hopeful homeless man. "They could be spending their Thanksgiving with their families and here they are with us.

It was 88-year-old Kathryn Denton's first experience helping to feed the homeless. She joined with granddaughter, Amy Meany, grandchildren, Tyler and Christian, and their dad, Jerry, for what's become a Thanksgiving family tradition for the Meany family.

Amy Meany explained that she does it not only as an expression of thanks for the blessings in her own life but to show her school-age children how fortunate they are and to teach them the importance of volunteer work while they are young.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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