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On Thursday, January 22, 2014, volunteers at the Grace Marketplace surveyed the homeless to count their numbers and to understand their needs. Jennifer Moises, 37, is the case manager at Grace Marketplace and volunteered her time to the census.
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The Pavilion, known jokingly by most tenants as Faux Diddley Plaza, is a shelter for the homeless. The concrete structure holds over 50 beds at a time. When temperature drop below 45 degrees fahrenheit, the Welcome Center opens for warmth against the cold.
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Brenda Chamberlain, database coordinator for the Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry, works on volunteer logs and surveys for the census count. Even though she came into work sick, she continued to work on this project until it was completed.
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For three months, 35-year-old Sisco Black and his wife have been homeless. When they first came to Grace Marketplace they relied heavily on the amenities, but now they have become self-sufficient.
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Occupy Gainesville was set up by a group of homeless people to ensure a community atmosphere. This band of tents sits right outside the fences of Grace Marketplace. This way residents can still use the amenities that Grace offers from the comforts of their own patch of land.
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Peter Dannenhoffer, 52, eats a Pop-Tart for his morning breakfast. Even though Dannenhoffer lives in the Occupy Gainesville, a tent community outside of Grace Marketplace, he is still able to get something to eat within the fence. "Grace provided me a place to live immediately after I became homeless," Dannenhoffer said.
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The garden was planted and is tended to by a resident of Occupy Gainesville named Tygur. According to Executive Director Theresa Lowe, Tygur was one of the original occupants of the tent community. He set up this plot of land to become more self-sustainable.
The usual sound of birds wasn’t what woke the residents of Grace Marketplace Thursday morning.
Grace Marketplace, 2845 NE 39th Ave., held their annual homeless census count on Thursday that lasted from 5:45 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry, headed by Executive Director Theresa Lowe, offered goodie bags for those who participated in the census. The bags were filled with a meal replacement shake, fruit snacks, a water bottle and other snacks, including a Rice Krispies Treat.
The coalition armed volunteers with binders filled with blank surveys in hope that the homeless would take a few minutes to answer questions about their current living situation.
The homeless census is completed every year on a specific day across the state and is called the Point-In-Time survey. Residents in both Grace Marketplace and Occupy Gainesville, a tent community across the street, were included in the census.
Lowe said there are three main reasons why the census must be done. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the coalition’s biggest funder, requires a census to take place in order for funding to be received.
Lowe said the results of the census will help open the public’s eye to homeless communities. The census also raises more awareness to potential donors in hopes of receiving additional funding to improve conditions at Grace Marketplace.
“I didn’t have what I needed when I got laid off,” said Richard Baily, 46. “So, here I am.”
Similar stories of lost jobs, familial problems and addiction are found within the people who live in and around Grace Marketplace.
