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Community Members Experience “One Night Without a Home”
11/20/09 - 10:14 PM
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Community members join the homeless on the streets tonight. It’s part of a national campaign during Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week.

Organizers and the homeless themselves tell News 13 they just want understanding from the community. Every night, many people call the sidewalks of Downtown Panama City their home. Now they’re sharing the experience.

“’One Night Without a Home’, it’s part of our awareness week of the hungry and homeless that we have in our community,” says Rick Dye with the Panama City Rescue Mission.

“The raccoons are around, the bugs are around, the ants are around. Every once in a while there are strangers who come in and it does get pretty scary,” says Renate Pritchard.

Pritchard is homeless, living on the streets and sleeping in the woods. She and others say they hope this event shows the community they’re people, too; they just need a little help.

“Don’t be scared of us,” says Richard Spnos, also homeless. “We’re just the same person. We’re all human beings.”

“If you can’t pay your rent and you can’t pay your electricity, you don’t got a choice, you live out in the woods,” Spnos says.

“This time last year, I had a home, a two-bedroom apartment, everything you could ever possibly want or need,” Pritchard says. “This year, look at me now.”

Although this event is done every year nationally, this is the first year for Panama City. Organizers hope the 10 or so people who attended can give insight into ways to better assist the homeless in our area.

User Comments

This must be part of the touchy-feely group that spent over $100,000 making a video to teach homeless people how to safely eat food retrieved from dumpsters….... They raised all kinds of hooplah about doing something for the homeless community.  It’s a pity that they only forgot one thing…...........Homeless people don’t have electricity or VCRs or DVD players, so they couldn’t watch the video. The $100,000 could have been spent much better somewhere else, but once again, it’s symbolism over substance.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  11/21  at  08:15 PM

Im way too skeptical of todays society to believe anything other than personal incompetence (financial or otherwise) and/or a general lack of ambition got MOST of these folks where they are today.  Guess I wont be taking that person sleeping on the park bench at their word this year.  Better luck next year tho.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  11/21  at  02:58 PM
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