VOLUNTEERS
156
The result was Helping Hands, which in its first year
raised $80,000 for the homeless center, through a dinner
dance, a benefit concert by the Notre Dame Symphony
Orchestra and notecard sales at the Festival of Trees at
Riverside Children’s Theatre.
The group, which welcomes new members, will be back at
the Festival of Trees this season and is hosting another dinner
dance. It will take place Nov. 8 in the Great Hall at
Trinity Episcopal Church. Admission is $100 per person, with
all proceeds
to benefit the
homeless
center.
“People
who went
last year had
a fabulous
time,” Mayo
says. “Our
theme this
year is the
same, A
Home for the
Holidays, but
we’ll do things a bit differently.”
For people who want to donate to the homeless center but
don’t go to fund-raisers, there are other ways to help. Get
together with neighbors and make a spaghetti dinner for 60
people once a month, and deliver the food to the homeless
center. (Call first to let residents know dinner is coming).
Volunteer to help at the center. Buy extra diapers, toothbrushes,
soap products, and drop them off. Gently used
clothing and household items are welcomed. At Mayo’s
own birthday party this year, guests brought items like
paper towels and toilet paper, all of which went to the
homeless center.
The center, at 715 4th St., is funded by private donations
and state and county grants. It has space for 60 people, and
it’s always full. It serves the four-county region. Most of the
residents are children who wound up there with one or both
parents because of a job layoff or illness that depleted whatever
savings the family had.
“Even two people working minimum wage won’t make
enough to afford the average rent in this town,” Mayo said.
“The other thing is it’s hard to find subsidized child care that
enables the mom to work.”
So the Homeless Center Family offers what Mayo calls a
“hand up, not a hand out” to help people break free from the
cycle of homelessness. Residents get job counseling and then
are required to save 75 percent of their earnings to help them
afford to rent an apartment later.
“Our emphasis here is on families because kids don’t have
a choice about being homeless. It’s really important to help
families.”
The center has a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol
use. All residents are required to do chores and follow the
rules, which include a curfew. The average stay is nine
months, “but we don’t send people out until they’re ready to
go,” Mayo says “It’s a wonderful place but no one wants to
come back.”
“Volunteers’’ highlights the work of volunteers assisting nonprofits
on the Treasure Coast.
Organization: Helping Hands
Mission: Helps support the Homeless Family
Center In Indian River County, including
cooking and delivering dinner once a month
to residents of the center.
Major fund-raising events: An annual dinner
dance Nov. 8 at the Great Hall in Trinity
Episcopal Church in Vero; sale of notecards
Nov. 10-18 at the Festival of Trees at Riverside
Children’s Theatre in Vero.
To join: Call 772-321-5490