Wednesday, January 02, 2008

PUSH: 2007 in review

P U S H looks back over 2007 and forward to 2008

P U S H: People United to Stop Homelessness began with a large grassroots movement in January 2007 as a response to the city’s panhandling ordinance. New residents, elected officials, clergy, social services and mental health professionals, and social justice activists came together to assess, understand and work towards a compassionate solution to homelessness in St Johns County. They met monthly for a year, accomplishing the following:

Established a living mission statement with four clear goals:

PUSH was formed to improve coordination and utilization of all the many resources available in St Johns County to address the homeless population in the area.

We are resolved to advocate for the homeless at the city, county and state levels.
We will provide awareness and action through education and outreach activities.
We will assist in providing liaison between various agencies, churches and non profit organizations.
We will work to ensure that any solution to homelessness comprises full services: human basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and additional assistance including but not limited to medical, mental health, job training, substance abuse counseling and child care.

Established a website with calendar, resource links and archived articles: www.push.solidarityandpeace.org

Wrote many published articles and letters to editors and elected officials advocating for collaborative solutions to homelessness.

Conducted a Candlelight Vigil for Billy Healey, a homeless veteran who killed himself in May 2007.

Appeared on the Norma Sherry show on Channel 22, spoke at various local churches and participated in Coastal Law School presentation along with the Sulzbacher Center.

Held vigil with informational signs outside Night of Lights Gala to support fundraising for St Francis House, thanking all the mayor’s guests for their contributions.

Participated in ESHC’s point in time January 2007 homeless count.

Participated in ongoing ESHC Task Force efforts.


Conducted continuing outreach to homeless, churches, county officials and mental health agencies, Veterans Affairs.

Researched communities all over the US and in Florida to ascertain successful programs and educated members on possibilities for St Johns County.

Conducted citizen surveys at public libraries in November and December of 2007 as well as on the website and in the St Augustine Record to gauge citizen opinions on homelessness and solutions.


We have accomplished a lot in a year. It now appears logical to try and organize a roundtable of key players to discover and construct a working vision of what will work best in St Johns County. It is unclear whether P U S H has the clout to pull this off. Members will need to step up and volunteer time and expertise in coordinating this effort. We hope to talk about this at our next meeting, tentatively 1/15/08 but more and final information and agenda will be forthcoming.

Sumner and I want to thank each and every one of you who have made all this possible. I keep thinking how cold it will be tonight, 1/2/08, and how helpless I feel. We have got to do more.