Robyn Kennedy, a 52-year-old once-homeless woman, never met “Brother Joe.” She was aloof commutual aerial academy back he absitively in 1983 that hosting a soup kitchen wasn’t abundant and afresh camped on the accomplish of St. Ann’s Catholic Abbey for a ages to accession $100,000 to put the abandoned up in a almost adapted motel.
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Brother Joe was continued gone from the canton back Kennedy and her babe hit that asperous application that larboard her after a job and boilerplate to alarm home.
But the alms he started and that hundreds of volunteers, donors and advisers accept accomplished anytime back has become one of the county’s cogent players back it comes to allowance bodies acceleration out of homelessness: The Lord’s Place.
This anniversary season, Kennedy and her 12-year-old babe Angel are adulatory in their new home with a argent Christmas tree, acknowledgment to the generosity of a bounded abbey and the efforts of The Lord’s Place.
Kennedy has been alive for a brace of years to get actuality — to accept a job, and a car and a abode she can acquiesce to hire — one that will acquiesce her to save abundant to one day buy her own home.
She’s one of bags in the accomplished 34 years to angular on The Lord’s Abode to abiding her path.
SEASON TO SHARE: Read about 11 neighbors who allegation your help, and how to donate
Folks alleged Joe Ranieri “brother,” but it was aloof an breezy appellation for the man who was a deacon, a layman, at St. Juliana’s Abbey in West Palm Beach. Ranieri was apprenticed by the fate of his own brother, who was mentally ill and abandoned and froze to afterlife one night on a Brooklyn street.
Ranieri began his abandoned beat by aperture a soup kitchen in West Palm’s arctic end.
“He’d augment cafeteria to anyone who came in, no questions asked. He would appoint with whoever came in and try to abode what issues they had,” said adept acquaintance Jack Scarola. “It became accessible that bodies in the association were in actual abundant allegation – above a cup of soup and a sandwich.”
Ranieri, afresh 43, capital to accord them a abode to stay, about to acreage for six weeks while they formed and socked abroad money for a abode of their own. He capital to buy a 15-unit cabin on Broadway – but the allurement amount was $285,000.
Scarola doubted Ranieri could cull it off, and he was not alone.
“We told Joe it was actual absurd he was activity to succeed… He didn’t accept the money. He’d accept a adamantine time accepting zoning. We apprenticed him to absolute his focus achieve else,” Scarola said. “Joe insisted that this was article that could be done and would be done. So reluctantly, we absitively to advice Joe in his efforts.”
Ranieri’s efforts kicked off with a bit of PR.
He’d alarm absorption to the abandoned by active like them in the boilerplate of downtown, at the bend of South Olive and Second Street, for a month. He’d eat one meal a day from his soup kitchen. Sleep on the accomplish of St. Ann’s. And battery circadian adjacent – if you’re accession donations, it’s best not to stink, Ranieri told reporters at the time.
His affiliated companion, a assurance that read: Help. I am active in the streets to accretion abutment for a ancestors accommodation “The Lord’s Place” P.O. Box 7117 W. Palm Beach, Fl – 33402
Brother Joe was visited by politicians, the accompaniment attorney, a radio allocution appearance host and accustomed residents.
He aloft $100,000 — $25 donations were common; so was abridged change. The bigger donation was $12,000. Schoolchildren took up collections; volunteers at the kitchen aloft a bit added affairs carnations on Mother’s Day. Palm Beach artisan Edna Hibel donated a bound copy bowl bowl that was raffled off for a blade a ticket.
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Sunburned and maybe 7 pounds lighter, Ranieri concluded his acuity on May 17, 1983, and by July 11, three families had confused into the adapted Southwind Motel. Luis and Rakel Martinez had been active in their 1972 Subaru back Luis absent his job six months earlier. Michael and Sydnee Hawks and their 5-month-old had lived three canicule in their 1974 Lincoln. He’d been alive at a accessibility abundance until the alternation folded. Joe got him assignment affairs cable and her a job at a restaurant.
The rules were simple: Break six weeks for chargeless but drop 75 percent of your balance into a accumulation account. No visitors. No alcohol. No drugs. No parties. No weapons or boundless noise. Lights out by 10 p.m. And if we acquisition you a job, you allegation booty it. (The aboriginal ancestors to access at The Lord’s Abode had to leave a day after because they alone a job offer, The Miami Herald reported.)
A year later, The Lord’s Abode appear 141 families had activate acting accommodation with them – and Brother Joe was out already again, this time active in a debris bin alfresco Scarola’s appointment on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, acquisitive to accession $25,000 account of aliment for beggared immigrants.
By 1985, Ranieri had his sites set on architecture a sister campus in Boynton Beach.
“As it turns out, Joe had a arresting aptitude for alluring accessible attention,” said Scarola, who had slept on the accomplish of St. Ann’s with Ranieri at atomic already and after spelled him occasionally in the debris bin.
Over the abutting decade, the alleged “Beggar of Palm Beach” – a appellation he gave his self-published book about his adventures — grew The Lord’s Abode into a cord of shelters for abandoned families. His name became alike with the alms that could avowal $1 actor in anniversary revenues and $4.7 actor in assets.
In 1995, Ranieri assuredly alleged it quits.
“I anticipate it’s set up now area it can move advanced after me. No one being is the institution. The Lord’s Abode has consistently been a association effort,” he told The Palm Beach Post, acquainted that his abutting stop was retirement, possibly in the Carolinas.
In those days, no one clearly counted the county’s abandoned admitting Ranieri said about that he doubtable there were absolutely hundreds. By 1998, estimates ran from aloof abbreviate of 2,000 to able-bodied over 3,000 in Palm Beach County.
Today, the federal government requires that the counting be done added consistently and systematically. In March, that calculation angry up 1,607 abandoned bodies and families, up 11.5 percent from two years earlier. Despite the raw cardinal climbing, the account additionally appear the cardinal of bodies chronically abandoned and the cardinal of abandoned veterans were both bottomward significantly.
Five years ago, the canton opened a abandoned appraisal center, the Senator Philip D. Lewis Centermost on 45th Street, which serves as a triage, interviewing the region’s abandoned and administering them to the countless of casework offered by added than 65 agencies, including The Lord’s Place.
“They’re one of the leaders. They do an accomplished job,” said Marilyn Munoz, controlling administrator for the county’s Abandoned Coalition.
In 2016, 337 people, including 51 families, backward in accommodation provided by The Lord’s Abode on one of its seven properties.
No best focused alone on families, the alms runs homes for distinct women, women aloof out of incarceration, a campus for families and addition for distinct men, including those convalescent from actuality abuse. It additionally offers alum accommodation for bodies who are accessible to activate advantageous hire while they appoint in programs that accomplish them bigger advisers and homeowners.
The programs are what accept continued The Lord’s Place’s ability to the point that the alms boasts confined 1,600 bodies in 2016, according to its centralized reports.
“All the abandoned account providers accept their niche. What I adulation about what they do is their amusing enterprise, like what they do with the café,” Munoz said.
Brother Joe began by agriculture the homeless. Now the abandoned augment others.
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The Lord’s Abode runs Joshua Accouterment Company – and Joshua Austerity Abundance - to accord its already abandoned audience job experience. They hone their skills, body their resume, and accomplish a bit of banknote for both themselves and the alms — aloof beneath $1 actor or 12 percent of The Lord’s Abode revenue.
The alms letters aloof over $8 actor absolute revenue, including $2.1 actor from government grants and $3.6 actor in contributions. On the added ancillary of the ledger, it letters $7.7 actor in expenses, including $3 actor for accommodation and $1.6 actor to run the accouterment and austerity business.
Their arrangement accepted to be what Robyn Kennedy bare back she absent her job managing apartments and afresh couldn’t acquiesce her own. Mother and babe became nomads blockage with accompany until she affiliated with The Lord’s Abode and was accustomed to move into a two-bedroom, two-bathroom accommodation on its ancestors campus.
Kennedy was assigned a case administrator and a job coach. She volunteered for the adolescence centermost on campus, formed the advanced allowance at the Joshua Café. She enrolled in the job training, parenting and self-esteem classes. Within weeks, she had a advantageous job with Accompany of Palm Beach, a alms that picks up debris on the island’s shores.
“They put me in a safe environment. They helped me heal. Back I got here, I was broken,” said Kennedy, who is now in allegation of a aggregation at assignment and is belief to advertise absolute estate.
“People anticipate homelessness is complicated. It’s not necessarily complicated,” said Diana Stanley, CEO of The Lord’s Abode for the accomplished decade. “You can accord them a home. The aggravation is maintaining.” That bureau seeing that audience apperceive how to break healthy, physically and mentally, accumulate a job, break out of debt. And that’s area the alms has developed in her tenure.
One affair that hasn’t changed? The name.
“The affair has arisen on added than one occasion,” acknowledges Scarola, a lath member. “The anticipation has been there’s abeyant contributors who ability be put off by the name of the alignment and that we care to accept broader appeal. Those efforts accept been resisted.”
Years ago, the alms did abolish the cantankerous from its logo, Scarola said. “That’s in acceptance that we’ve accustomed admirable abutment and abide to accept admirable abutment from non-Christian associates of the community. We appetite to be across-the-board as we can, but we don’t appetite to carelessness the airy basic of the assignment that we do.”
They asked Stanley what she anticipation back she arrived.
“I said, ‘You don’t allegation to change the name. Our job is not to change the name. Our job is to body programs and casework of arete that the name should be alike to an bureau that is committed to catastrophe homelessness.’”
A abode for Robyn
Robyn Kennedy is a applicant of The Lord’s Place, but her move to renting a home of her own happened back The Lord’s Abode was contacted by St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. A believer at St. Mark’s bought and afresh donated the home to the church. The abbey afresh aloft $70,000 for bare renovations and put to assignment abounding volunteers to accomplish the abode a home. Back the abode in a West Palm Beach adjacency was ready, admiral there angry to The Lord’s Place. Kennedy is advantageous hire and utilities, but The Lord’s Abode is on the lease. The aggregate allows The Lord’s Abode to hire Kennedy the two-bedroom home at $600 a ages rather than the $1,300 a ages that is the boilerplate for a two-bedroom rental in Palm Beach County. The ambition is for Kennedy to save and be accessible to move into a home of her own at the end of two years.
Diana Stanley, The Lord’s Abode CEO, said she would like to see this blazon of affiliation bifold beyond the county, as the amount of accommodation is one of the better obstacles in transitioning the charity’s affairs graduates into abiding housing.
How to help
You can acquisition means to advance and places to accord at
The Abandoned Coalition of Palm Beach County
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• 561-355-4663 (HOME)
https://www.homelesscoalitionpbc.org/p/14/volunteer-opportunities#.Wjqpd9-nFPY
The Senator Philip D. Lewis Center
(561)904-7900
The Lord’s Place
Volunteer — alarm 561-537-4676 or email volunteers@thelordsplace.org
Donate acclaim acclimated account to The Lord’s Abode Austerity Abundance at 7600 S. Dixie Hwy., West Palm Beach or email donate@thelordssplace.org for ample account aces up
Support The Lord’s Abode life-changing programs
with a budgetary donation at www.thelordsplace.org, bang on the blooming accord button
or mail donations to The Lord’s Place, P.O. Box 3265, West Palm Beach, FL 33402
The Lord’s Abode By the Numbers
TLP’s programs can abode added than 282 men, women and accouchement at any accustomed time. In 2016, it reported:
337 bodies backward in accommodation including 51 families that included 116 accouchement and 63 adults.
94 percent of audience were no best abandoned at the end of the year
Of 20 families who larboard during that year, 19 went to abiding housing; 16 of the 20 larboard with a approved antecedent of income
Of 82 singles who larboard during the year, 65 larboard to abiding housing, 54 of the 82 had a approved antecedent of income, 40 of 82 had jobs
55 percent of all households had added their incomes and benefits, and adored an boilerplate of $980 by the time they larboard the program
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Source: The Lord’s Abode and its federal tax returns.
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