Mayor's panel on homelessness a big success

Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba talks to the audience about why he called for a panel
to discuss homeless issues in Dothan, Alabama.

When the mayor of your city asks you and your friends and colleagues if you would be interested in conducting a panel discussion on homelessness in our city, there's only one way to respond. YES! Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

That's what happened when Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba asked us at a meeting of the Southeast Alabama Coalition for the Homeless meeting a couple of months ago. We were all thrilled and excitedly said yes.

Today, that panel discussion took place at the Wiregrass Museum of Art in downtown Dothan. A large crowd attended the discussion, and became even more educated on the many issues facing the homeless and the home insecure here in our home city. A number of people in the audience were people who represent ministries and organizations who work with the homeless and needy. In attendance were also city leaders, including Dothan City Manager Mike West, Dothan Police Chief Steve Parrish and Dothan Fire Chief Larry Williams and other city leaders and department heads.

I was honored to be one of the panel members, along with my friends David Duke, executive director of Wiregrass 2-1-1, David Jamison, executive director of Our Community, Inc., Kody Kirchhoff, executive director of The Harbor, and Jeff Peacock, executive director of The Ark.

We talked about a number of issues, including tent cities (yes, there's more than one ... many more, just smaller than the popular one.), housing crunch, lack of public transportation, mental health, generational poverty, ID needs, and more.

We shared examples of success stories, and particularly those in which several of our ministries worked together to help someone come off the streets. The unity between ministries and organizations is getting stronger and stronger, and that's what's needed. Working closely with The Ark and The Harbor is a blessing. Together, we can do much more to impact lives for the glory of God.

We made it clear that sharing Jesus with the homeless and those living in poverty is of the utmost importance, and No. 1 on our lists of priorities. If we don't share Jesus, first of all, we fail at fulfilling the Great Commission. Secondly, we are just wasting their time and ours. Jesus is the answer for life here and now and for eternity.

The unity that's being fostered is making a real difference. Unity is what Jesus expects from us. He didn't tell us to be divided. That's what Satan tries to do. Jesus tells us to be one as He and the Father are One (John 17:21).

David Duke shared some staggering statistics about homelessness in Dothan. Wiregrass 2-1-1 is a clearinghouse for resources for the homeless and needy. They have a huge database with contact information for each ministry and organization and information about what each one can help with.

Out of nine regional call centers in Alabama, the Wiregrass experienced the third highest volume in the state. Calls are up 15 percent over last fiscal year with 16,299 calls answered and 30,124 referrals provided for those calls.

They received 623 calls from the homeless in fiscal 2017 and that number increased to 697 in fiscal 2018, a 12 percent increase.

The top three needs of the homeless who called were housing (56 percent), food/meals (13 percent), and health care (7 percent).

All of these stats simply mean this, the homeless situation in Dothan is increasing, as is poverty. There are more than 600 homeless in Dothan and  more than 3,000 home insecure, which means people who do not have a permanent home. They "couch surf," sleeping on couches of family members and friends. They are constantly going from one couch to the next.

We have seen a tremendous increase in the homeless and people living in poverty here at Love In Action. We will end up serving 3,600 families with food, hygiene items and clothing by the end of the year. That's about a 40 percent increase over last year. We will have served close to 11,000 meals by the end of the year, which is nearly twice as many as last year.

Ministries like The Harbor and The Ark have also experienced tremendous increases throughout 2018.

We are all determined to continue giving the people Jesus and providing solutions to help end unwanted homelessness in Dothan. Together, through Jesus Christ, we will accomplish this goal.

Love In Action was well represented at today's Mayor Panel on Homelessness.
Martha Tuck, Pamela Johnson, and Dan Levy were in the audience with many
of our friends, including Barbi Nolan of Covenant United Methodist Church.