Cooperative Feeding Program

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Hot Meals Are Only One Part Of Feeding Program's Work
South Florida Sun - Sentinel
Dec 25, 2006
By: Michael Mayo

Just past 7:30 a.m. last Monday, assistant chef David Moore dumped a huge batch of chili into the steam-jacketed kettle known as Big Bertha and braced for his version of morning rush hour.

Outside, a dozen people already had gathered for the meal that was 90 minutes away. Another week at the Cooperative Feeding Program was about to begin.

The name suggests a soup kitchen, and, indeed, a hot meal is served every morning, 365 days a year, for anyone who wants one.

But spend a full day here, at the building on West Broward Boulevard and NW 33rd Terrace, and you see it's so much more. It's a sanctuary and refuge, comfort station and clubhouse, counseling center and lifeline.

"People see the line outside and think it's just a feeding center," said case manager Ursula Williams. "They don't realize all the other things that are happening on the second floor."

It's a place where the homeless and working poor come for help, a sympathetic ear and perhaps a way toward something better. Many are mentally ill and have drug or alcohol problems.

It's a place where unsung volunteers give their time and hearts and overwhelmed workers try their best to keep up with an unrelenting wave of need.

"There are so many poor people in Broward now," said CEO Marti Forman.

"There's such a workforce housing crunch. People who used to give us $25 a month are showing up needing help."

Besides the morning meal, the homeless come for showers, shaves and fresh clothes. Some have their mail, including disability checks, sent here. The working poor come to pick up weekly packages of pantry items and apply for food stamps. There's a touch-screen job kiosk linked to an employment agency. During the holiday season, there are donated toys for underprivileged children.

All this gets done with 15 paid employees, a rotating cast of volunteers and an annual budget of about $1 million.

On the day I visited, there were 273 hot meals served, 241 toys given out and 205 food cartons distributed from the pantry. Forty- five people got sandwiches on the second floor after the kitchen closed, 41 picked up mail and 34 met with Ursula Williams.

Twenty-two people took showers, some waiting almost three hours for the single stall.

Among them: Raymond Perez, who hobbled in on a crutch with his right hand in a splint. In January, Perez was one of three homeless men beaten in Fort Lauderdale, allegedly by a group of teenagers in a vicious spree that killed one and made national headlines. Perez said he's been back on the streets a few months.

"I couldn't stay in the places they put me," said Perez, who described them as a homeless shelter and a residence mainly for people with HIV/AIDS. "I didn't belong there. I'm going to be on the streets until the trial."

Snapshots from a day in the life of a full-service agency:

8:05 a.m. -- The usual Monday serving crew from Plantation Community Church unloads a mountain of donated baked goods from Publix onto trays. In the pantry room next door, volunteer Jean Harrison, of Fort Lauderdale, sorts dry goods and packs food boxes for families. She has done this most mornings since July. "You don't realize what kind of position some people are in until you come here," she said.
8:15 a.m. -- Terry Duren, 32, steps from the dishwashing area for a cigarette break outside. He's worked here just over a month, and he also happens to be homeless. "A long story," he says. He loves to read, holds up a paperback entitled Dead of Night. He reads by candlelight in his makeshift bed, set up on pallets in a hidden spot in Fort Lauderdale, every night.
9:30 a.m. -- On the second floor, there's a line by each of two desks, one for homeless services and the other for food package registration. Every time a bus stops outside, more people filter upstairs. The line doesn't let up until a few minutes before the 4 p.m. closing time.
10:25 a.m. -- The dining room can hold only 53 at a time, so there's a steady wait outside the locked double doors. "You can tell the homeless from the hard-up by the ones who are lugging all their earthly possessions with them," said longtime volunteer Jan Washburn, who monitors the door. Charlotte York, 85, is among those toting her belongings. She is here for breakfast and a shower. "I had a real rough weekend," says York, "but every weekend is rough." She is back on the streets after a failed stint in an apartment. She was profiled in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in January, prompting attempts to help her, but she resists. "Stubborn," Forman said.
12:20 p.m. -- Ursula Williams meets with a pregnant mother and her three young children, trying to find a place for them to live. The family must leave the apartment they've been sharing with a relative. Earlier in the day she found an agency to pay an electric bill for a struggling senior, arranged for another senior's free dental care and helped a mentally ill man apply for disability payments. She also worked on two "reunifications," sending homeless men from Ohio and Kansas back to their families, with free bus tickets provided by Greyhound. "You can do so many different things for so many different people on any given day," says Williams, who came here in July after 6 1/2 years with the Department of Children & Families. "DCF had me in a box. There I had to tell people, `Wait until you get a letter from us.' Here, someone's in here crying and I can get something done right away."
2:15 p.m. -- Marti Forman sits in her office fretting about money. She says contributions aren't keeping up with needs and the agency has depleted $115,000 from its savings account the last three months, almost half its reserve. "I was up all night writing grant applications," she says. She said the last financial crisis, after 9- 11, was averted when an elderly woman died and left a six-figure bequest. "We're going to need another miracle," Forman says.
3:20 p.m. -- Staffer Jillian Corbin looks up from the homeless services desk to find a woman from the Unitarian Universalist Church holding a $2,000 check. "Good news," she says. "You got some grant money." The miracle has arrived, at least for today.

Michael Mayo can be reached at mmayo@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356- 4508.

ABOUT THE AGENCY

For every family or person featured in Sun-Sentinel Children's Fund stories, there are many more in need. The agency spotlighted today, the Cooperative Feeding Program, wants to help more of them. The Broward agency provides food, counseling, training and job opportunities for the homeless, along with families and seniors facing economic hardship. It operates a community kitchen serving hot meals every morning, an emergency food pantry and an office that provides counseling and other services. For more information, call 954-792-2328 or visit www.feedingbroward.org.

Contributions to the Sun-Sentinel Children's Fund will make it possible for local nonprofit agencies to serve needy children and families by providing grants for food, shelter, health care, abuse- prevention services, educational and cultural programs -- even toys for the holidays. All administrative costs are paid by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which contributes $1 for every $2 donated. To contribute, please call 800-381-2112 or visit www.sun-sentinel.com/childrensfund.

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