HOMELESS PROGRAMS GET $900,000

GREENSBORO -- At Mary's House and other programs for the homeless in
Greensboro, they don't have money to provide a lot of extras for the people
they're helping.

The wish list at Mary's House goes from diapers to a backyard bench and a
copier machine, says Kathy Grumblatt, director of the program on Guilford
Avenue that aids women recovering from substance abuse.

"We need prayers and money, not necessarily in that order," says Grumblatt.

But Mary's House and four other programs for Greensboro's homeless at least
know they have a nest egg to help with basic services, especially important
at this time of year when the demand for shelter is acute.

They're sharing in the largest award ever to Greensboro homeless programs
from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In late
November, the agency announced grants totaling $900,000 to Mary's House,
Greensboro Urban Ministry, Family Service of the Piedmont, Christian
Counseling and Wellness Group, and the Servant Center.

Mary's House will receive about $135,000 of the federal money. Individual
grants for the other groups range from $47,000 to nearly $600,000.

The large grant is the fruit of cooperation, leaders of the various groups
say. Instead of going it alone and battling each other for grants,
Greensboro's homeless agencies work together on a yearly plan that covers a
variety of homeless situations.

Their latest grant application covered programs helping women left homeless
after physical abuse, men and women battling drug addiction, people who are
homeless because of medical disability, and those trying to return to a
productive life after being homeless.

"This kind of money won't come to a community where people are not working
together," says Beth McKee-Huger, director of the Greensboro Housing
Coalition. "We're putting all the puzzle pieces together."

McKee-Huger's group coordinates the collaborative effort. It also moderates
a monthly meeting of the various homeless groups, at which staff members
discuss their programs and how they fit into the overall effort.

Once a year, the group votes on its yearly request of the federal agency.
When it started several years ago, staff members often listed their own
programs as highest priority, McKee-Huger says.

But that has changed; many now vote for other programs that they see as
better suited to filling an immediate need, McKee Huger says.

The federal agency's pattern has been to provide a relatively large sum to
help start a program, then continue with smaller grants until the new
program is established, says Gail Haworth of the Servant Center, which
helps homeless people who are disabled.

"We have all been recipients of the major amount," said Haworth.

Haworth's group received a $400,000 grant in 1996 to begin its program. It
was awarded about $53,000 this year.

The lion's share of this year's money went to Christian Counseling and
Wellness, which got $500,000 to renovate parts of the dilapidated St. James
Homes complex on Eugene Street as permanent housing for formerly homeless
people who are disabled. The group also received $88,000 for its Prince of
Peace Haven program on Huffine Mill Road for homeless men fighting drug
problems.

The other two recipients are Urban Ministry's Partnership Village complex,
which will receive $78,750, and Family Service's Clara House for battered
women, which is getting $47,300. Partnership Village on Greenbriar Road is
for formerly homeless people who need help making the transition to a more
stable lifestyle.

"The basic idea is that within two years, they get on their feet and become
a self-supporting individual or family," said the Rev. Mike Aiken, Urban
Ministry's director.

The coalition of homeless groups will begin developing its 2002 grant
package in the next few months.

McKee-Huger said that one item that might be included is a computer system
to keep track of homeless services in the community, the demand for those
services and the kinds of help that each homeless person has received.

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or at twireback@news-record.com