FKOC Chairman of the Board, Attorney Samuel Kaufman, opens the 20th Annual Meeting

 

Judge Peary Fowler administers the Board Member Oath of Office
Pictured: Ron Roberts, Bill Malpass, Rev. Randy Becker,Dr. Eric Nichols, Rev. Larry Schenck, Paul Clayton, Rev. Sarah Fowler,
Commissioner Jimmy Weekley, Jenny Wolfe, Sam Kaufman, Judge Peary Fowler, and Rev. Stephen Braddock .
Not pictured: John Sangston, Dr. Rose Chan, Niels Hubbell

Rev. Thomas J. Sterner, Men's Program Case Manager

 

Stephanie Kaple, Women's Program Case Manager

Chris Welts, Manager at the
William M. Neece Center for Homeless Recovery

 

Tom Budas, flanked by Fr. Tom, Sam Kaufman, and Rev Stephen Braddock
receives his Client Achievement Award.

Tim Berthiaume, flanked by Sam Kaufman, Chris Welts, and Father Braddock, receives his Client Achievement Award

 

William "Tony" Sakis, flanked by Sam Kaufman, Chris Welts, Fr. Tom, and Father Braddock, receives his Client Achievement Award

Linda Jefferson, flanked by Sam Kaufman, Stephanie Kaple and
Father Braddock, receives her Client Acheivement Award

 

Nurse Diana Schilling, flanked by Sam Kaufman, Stephanie Kaple, and
Father Braddock, receives the Board Appreciation Award honoring her
selfless and tireless service to individuals and families of FKOC

The Team from Digital Island Media, flanked by Sam Kaufman,
Dr. Eric Nichols, Stephanie Kaple, and Father Braddock, receive a Board Appreciation Award honoring their outstanding efforts and dedication in working with FKOC to create an informational video to help expand our outreach efforts through social media.

 

FKOC Deputy Director, Gina Pecorra, is recognized for
13 years of continuous and professional service on
Administrative Professionals Day

FKOC CELEBRATES OUR 20th ANNIVERSARY

(photo by Ron Roberts)

FKOC Board Member, Dr. Eric Nichols and his partner Bill Averyt opened their beautiful home to host a 20th Anniversary Celebration for the Board and friends of the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition. FKOC is Monroe County's oldest provider of housing and supportive services for individuals healing from the underlying causes of homelessness. A public celebration is planned for March 31st at the Gardens Hotel.

(L-R)Bill Averyt; FKOC CEO, Rev. Stephen Braddock; Dr. Eric Nichols
(seated) FKOC Chairman, Sam Kaufman; FKOC Deputy Director, Gina Pecora

December 21,2011

Rite Honors 14 who died homeless

BY GWEN FILOSA Citizen Staff
gfilosa@keysnews.com

Navy Honor Guard Members fold a flag that was flown over the US Capitol to honor the homeless veterans who died in Monroe County this year. The Homeless Memorial Day service was held at Key West Cemetery and sponsored by the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition and One Human Family.

While urging the community to better care for its poorest citizens, the city of Key West, clergy members and the leaders of nonprofits that serve the homeless honored on Wednesday those who died on the streets in 2011.

Conducted for a decade on every Dec. 21 -- the first day of winter and the longest night of the year -- the island's Homeless Persons' Memorial Day this year eulogized 14 men who had endured life on the island's streets without a safe, warm place to call their own.

"They have paid the ultimate price for our nation's failure to end homelessness," said Sam Kaufman, an attorney and board chairman of the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition (FKOC), one of the main sponsors of the service, which drew at least 65 people.

In the deceased's memory, the program included a city proclamation, a Navy Honor Guard, prayers and the sweet notes of "Silent Night" and "Amazing Grace" performed by clarinet player Larry Smith.

Thirteen of the 14 men named in the ceremony died while homeless in Key West, without blood relatives or friends able to accept their remains. They were: Alfredo Balcells, 81; Charles Linwood Brown, 56; William Constantini, 56; Jeffrey J. Hayden, 58; Michael Wayne Pierce, 51; Thomas Saviano-Finchum, 49; Arthur Dale Baker, 58; Daniel Clay Ratcliff, 50; Edward Botelho, 56; Charles Bruce Davis Jr., 52; Herman Lopez-Trigo Jr., 67; Marvin Allen Tinnell, 62; and Kenneth Neeley, 53.

"They are owed our respect and they ask us now to pass it on to everyone we meet," the Rev. Randy Becker said in his eulogy during the service, held in a grass walkway between rows of white stone tombs at the Key West Cemetery in Old Town.

"For too many there will be the longest night tonight," said Becker, of the Unitarian/Universalist Fellowship. "We are called upon to eulogize these lives by changing our lives, by never turning away from another human face or a simple request for love, care and attention."

J.T. Thompson, creator of the One Human Family motto, said there are many definitions of family.

"The souls we see here today are also our family," said Thompson. "They fell through the cracks and ended up without homes, the first step to a loss of health, self-esteem, relationships and even their lives. There are six degrees of separation between any one of us and any one of them."

The service also honored Luis "Gabe" Mardones, 63, who worked at the city's overnight shelter on Stock Island and was killed after a night shift when a county school bus collided head-on with his scooter.

While not technically homeless at the time of his death, Mardones had known what it was like to sleep outdoors, his co-workers said. He worked for FKOC when the nonprofit managed the city's Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter, where he is remembered by the men and women who sleep for his compassion and dedication to the most vulnerable population.

When a basketful of white doves was released, a lone bird lagged behind the fluttering dule and sat silently atop a row of vaults, even after the service.

"That's Gabe," the Rev. Steve Braddock, president of FKOC, said with a smile. Others who knew Mardones agreed, saying he wasn't ready to leave this world.

In 2006, FKOC bought the city's vault in the local cemetery.

Key West last year was one of 152 U.S. cities to sponsor events to honor those who had died homeless.

The service's program noted that some of the homeless who died in 2011 may not be on the list "as it is difficult to gain information on all who died. Some may have been overlooked; a sad reality of homelessness." Others may have yet to be identified, the program said.

"Each one had a personal history filled with joys and sorrows just like us," said the Rev. Thomas Sterner, a program manager at FKOC. "But many had no one to love them or to hold them or hug them."

Sterner expressed thanks to a higher power "for bringing them home where there is no more pain, no tears, no suffering. They finally have found rest."

Those who die indigent or homeless in Monroe County become the responsibility of the county's Social Services Department, which searches for next of kin and owns vaults reserved for their cremated remains.

"What they all had in common were lives deeply impacted by the scourge of poverty and homelessness," said Braddock. "One out of four homeless men sleeping in an alley, a doorway, or in a box has put on a uniform and served our country."

September 27-28, 2011
FKOC KIDS GET A NEW PLAYGROUND
WITH A LOT OF HELP
FROM FR. STEPHEN'S MOM and the U.S. NAVY !

Fifty of the best and brightest young sailors from all over our country spent liberty in Key West this week while docked at the island city for formal commissioning of their ship, the USS Spruance .

Joining together with Beaver Farm, a New York State charitable organization headed the past 23-years by Rev. Braddock's mother, Nonnie; and, whose volunteers have reached out in help and love to needy people all over our world for over 100 years, the crew took two days liberty to assist FKOC's staff in bringing some joy to homeless little ones in Key West.

Reaching out to give a hand up to those in need is what our country is all about. Everyone who helped, and will continue to help make this project a reality has every right to be proud.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

New playground for Poinciana Plaza among Navy's civic duties

BY GWEN FILOSA Citizen Staff

About 60 USS Spruance crew members fanned out across Key West on Wednesday, volunteering their muscles and mechanical know-how beneath the sweltering sun for an array of community service projects.

"This is part of what they do when they come to town," said Ron Denes, Naval Air Station Key West's executive director and Spruance commissioning committee member.

photo by Sean Kinney

"They give back to the community and leave a mark on the community as part of the Spruance legacy."

Demes spoke while dozens of sailors, dressed in bright yellow Navy T-shirts, formed a relay brigade for hauling 320 bags of mulch into a brand-new playground for families in transitional housing at the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition's (FKOC) Poinciana Plaza complex on Duck Avenue .

Key West will host Saturday's commissioning of the state-of-the-art guided missile destroyer, in a ceremony expected to draw some 6,000 people to the Truman Waterfront, where it is docked at the Outer Mole Pier.

"This is the biggest event since the Flagler railroad came to town," Demes said.

But on Wednesday, sailors power-washed bird cages at the Key West Wildlife Center , refurbished the gun mount at the Military Memorial at Mallory Square , cleaned up yards for Habitat for Humanity and painted auditoriums at the Sigsbee Charter and Grace Lutheran schools.

A sixth work site was at FKOC's housing, where 12 children didn't have any type of playground resembling what the sailors put together in two full workdays that started Tuesday. FKOC had the playground equipment and other supplies donated by The Gilbert Beaver Farm, a New York charity that recently was run by administrator Nonnie Braddock, mother of the Rev. Steve Braddock, FKOC's CEO and president.

Photo by Rob O'Neil

FKOC had a sign marking the gift and the Spruance crew's elbow grease ready to plant on Wednesday.

"I definitely didn't mind doing any of this," Petty Officer 2nd Class Folasade Reynolds, 24, said during a cooling-off break Wednesday. Reynolds, a native of Mount Vernon , N.Y. , said she is well-versed in such service projects, having done a similar kids-friendly volunteer job when she was stationed in Lithuania two years ago. "It was hotter there than here," she said.

Brandi Pope, who shares a bedroom at an FKOC transitional housing unit with her towheaded 5-year-old son, Aaren, glimpsed the new playground on Wednesday with gratitude. The fenced-in playground is safe and close to her home, Pope said.

"It's very nice," she said, as her son ate a cookie presented to him by City Manager Jim Scholl, who helped schlep a giant cooler filled with water and Gatorade for the workers while pitching in himself at various sites Wednesday. Scholl is a former Navy jet fighter pilot and Naval Air Station Key West commander.

"You don't want to just let them go outside," Pope said. "They need to burn off energy."

Aaren gazed up and said, "I like it."

The volunteer efforts are leading up to Saturday's grand event: the formal commissioning of the Spruance.

Capt. M. Tate Westbrook, the ship's commanding officer, said he chose Key West for the historic ceremony because of the island's rich maritime history and its long-standing ties with the Navy.

"In addition, he says it's a town where the crew can fully enjoy its shore leave before undertaking their first mission," city spokeswoman Alyson Crean said. In sailor parlance, it's the best "liberty" port along the Eastern Seaboard, Demes said.

Sailor Reynolds agreed, saying she spent some time earlier this week on a Jet Ski and parasailing during her first trip to the Keys.

But she remembered growing up with playgrounds nearby.

"It's always good to keep them nice and clean," she said, as five neighborhood girls stopped by to peer at the new construction.

gfilosa@keysnews.com

(with thanks to Ron Roberts, Fr. Steve, and Chris for photos)