- Neighbors joined Kearney Center clients for a big community dinner.
- It's part of the center's mission to increase connectivity between the homeless and the community.
- Watch the video to learn how a community meal helped boost self-esteem amongst clients and squash stigmas around homelessness.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Squashing stigmas and bridging the community.
I'm Kenya Cardonne in the Southwest Tallahassee neighborhood where neighbors and clients of the Kearney Center came together for a big community dinner highlighting the importance and progression of resources for the unhoused in our neighborhoods.
10,500— that's how many people the Kearney Center says it's served in almost 10 years.
Sonya Wilson, CEO of Kearney Center - "The demographics have really, really changed and the reason people are homeless has changed."
Partly to blame is the rise of inflation and the cost of housing.
CEO Sonya Wilson says it's why now more than ever, the center is working to increase resources and partners through direct connectivity with the community.
Helping tackle that mission was the Kearney Center's first annual Longest Table event.
Wilson - "I just want the community to see that people here are not bad people."
Saturday, neighbors from across our communities joined clients for dinner, a silent auction and a memorial for those who have lost their lives to homelessness.
Adrian Greer, Client - "It really needed it. It really needed it."
Client Adrian Greer says sharing the table with neighbors helped boost self-esteem and squash the stigmas around homelessness.
Cardonne - "What did that mean to you to have an event like this?"
Greer - "Peace and love, peace and love. Because this is all we have. We only have each other."
Unity and connection that will hopefully get others excited and involved with the center's development.
Just last month, Wilson tells me they were able to house 17 people!
Greer - "I've been seeing a whole lot of changes up in here. I've seen changes with the building. I've seen changes with the people, of their attitudes and everything."
Wilson - "People are very motivated. They're being very active, whether it's going out searching for jobs, career source, good will, technical school.."
As they continue helping people grow, the center is looking to grow as well.. amidh colder nights and into the new year when House Bill 1365, which prohibits counties from allowing camping or sleeping on public property, fully goes into effect.
Wilson - "We know that we're going to have an influx, you know, after the first of the year as well. So we need more bunk beds. We have the capacity to build more mattresses so that we can take in more individuals."
One of their goals for 2025 is to get their Medical Center up and running.
In Southwest Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne ABC 27
