These homeless are not transients -- they were your neighbors

These homeless are not transients -- they were your neighbors
Darryl E. Owens COMMENTARY
July 19, 2008
Friday morning, chronically homeless men and women hopped off the school bus that shuttled them from nearby homeless camps to Spirit of Joy Church. The east Orange County church served as the latest venue for Project Homeless Connect, a roving one-day event that links the homeless to shelter, food, and legal, medical and other services.Then, Vanessa Lockhart walked in, trailed by her son and two daughters. They looked anything but homeless.
But as Lockhart moved through the crowd, etched on her face was the apprehension that soon she might well be.

Homeless advocates already know 400 more people now are living on our streets at a given moment than last year. But they can only guess at the untold number of Central Floridians such as Lockhart who lie at the brink of disaster."One of the misconceptions is that we bus them [homeless] in from Detroit or somewhere," says Catherine Jackson, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. "The people who are homeless were living in homes here and became homeless. These are not transients -- these are neighbors."
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