Transforming Lives in Rocky Mount, N.C

You're a good citizen of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and you realize there is a great deal of hardship in your community. You want to do your share to help United Community Ministries' pair of homeless shelters. There can be something in it for you, too.

Maybe you would like to spruce up the lawn and the landscaping at your home or business. Maybe you are looking for janitorial services, or you need large items moved.

UCM's Business Services Employment and Training Program provides a win-win for you.

Crews from the adult shelter's Whole Life Program are ready to professionally perform whatever task you may have in mind.

"We want to support ourselves," says UCM Director Chris Battle. "We are telling the community, '˜Please help us to help ourselves. We appreciate your donations, but let us do something for you.'"

It's not just that UCM want to give back to donors. Battle emphasizes that training and employment, even for minimum wage, provide activities and self-worth for the residents. Some have even graduated to employment in the private sector. In that sense, it's win-win-win.

"Our goal is to funnel crew members into genuine jobs, one by one by one," Battle says.

United Community Ministries, of course, always will accept straight-up, no-strings contributions. Battle just wants to make sure supporters are aware that UCM isn't just looking for handouts.

Another way to contribute is to give time. A team of 100 volunteers teamed up a the McDonald Street shelter to replace the building's facial board, to recaulk the windows, and to convert a storage room into a continuing education and G.E.D. center. The built and painted bookshelves to create a library and updated the kitchen with donated appliances,. They even dug a drainage ditch to prevent flooding. These volunteer hours on a single weekend carried the equivalent value of thousands of dollars.

Hardship in Rural North Carolina

Rocky Mount is a town of 55,000 with double-digit unemployment. Average household income is $32,000, less than averages of $39,000 across North Carolina and $52,000 across the nation. Some 16 percent of families live below the federal poverty line.

Indeed, Rocky Mount is a low-income community, but Battle emphasizes that poverty is not the only issue. Substance abuse is linked to 90 percent of homeless individuals, and so UCM focuses on making he individual whole again.

United Community Ministries has focused on growth of the facilities, growth of outreach services and growth of the individual since 1977.

Seeds for UCM took root when volunteers at Church of the Good Shepherd started a soup kitchen, and came to the realization that many of the people who visited for a meal had no place to live.

Volunteers raised funds and established a 48-bed shelter at 341 McDonald Street.

Serving Families and Children

UCM's addition of the Bassett Center, serving families with children, became the positive result of a local tragedy during the late 1990. "Rosie's Story" involves a woman who declined to check in at McDonald Street because she did not want to relinquish custody of her child to another relative or to Protective Services. The body of Rosie, and her child, were later discovered along the banks of the Tar River.

"The was the impetus. That really made the community stand up," Battle says.

An abandoned school building was renovated with more than $1 million in contributions, and the Bassett Center at 916 Branch Street has facilities to house up to 12 families.

UCM's Business Services Employment and Training Program is just one example of residents of the two facilities taking charge of their own lives.

Breaking Down Stereotypes

In addition to participating on work crews, adult residents of the original McDonald Street facility run the original soup kitchen, which now serves 100 meals per day, 365 days a year. They are responsible for laundry and daily building maintenance both in their own building and at the Bassett Center.

They are allowed to stay for up to two years in the Whole Life Program, making progress into freshman, sophomore, junior and senior stages.

Meanwhile, Bassett Center parents are on a point system that requires them to set goals, such as keeping their apartments clean, attaining G.E.D. status, and ultimately applying for jobs.

"We are devoted to helping those who have fallen on hard times and giving them tools to get back on their feet," Battle says.

"There is a stigma of the homeless men and women with signs on the road asking for money, or panhandling outside of a supermarket. People can work if given the opportunity. They are good people, nice people, often very articulate.

"We would prefer to keep them for a longer time period instead of having them come back. Chronic homelessness is a serious problem. We would prefer to only see them once."

***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Following is a testimonial from a United Community Ministries patron:

John Risinger
Age 43
Former United Community Ministries resident
Now employed by B & B Lawn Service in Rocky Mount

"I grew up in Dallas and started my own landscaping business when I was 9 years old. I bought an old lawn mower at the flea market. Later I got married and went into the Army, but all along I was doing drugs. I remember one time I decided to commit suicide and and I put the gun to my head and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't go off. Things were really that bad.

"There was a so-called friend who said that if I took him to North Carolina, we could both find jobs. He was just using me. When we got here, he took everything I had. He probably figured he was just dumping me off at the shelter, but it was the best thing that could have happened.

"It was a weekend and they usually don't admit residents over the weekend, but they could tell I was in bad shape and so they bent over backwards for me. Right away I started into Narcotics Anonymous, and through NA, I learned that I can live without doing drugs.

"The shelter brought NA to me and the shelter gave me responsibilities. They helped me until I could help them. First I was a driver and I did their pickups, and I was third shift supervisor at the shelter. After eight months they placed me in an apartment. My roommate and myself, we would walk 2 miles to attend an NA meeting. Then, after the meeting, I would go by the shelter to volunteer.

"The center placed me on the Business Services work crew. We would go and do lawn work ... mow grass, edge the lawn, cut bushes, pressure wash, paint, clean roofs. This made me feel a strong sense of accomplishment. Ever since I was a kid, I've always been very proud of the work that I do. No job is complete until I am satisfied with it.

"All of this has led to me landing my own job with B & B Lawn Service. I'm divorced now, but I can't wait to get on the phone and to tell my two kids back in Texas.

"I'm hating to leave the shelter. They were the only family I had. They fed me and they clothed me when I was down and out. But it's sort of like on Charlie Brown, Linus with his security blanket. I have to get out and do something on my own."

SOURCES

http://bassettcenter.org/

http://rockymount.northcarolina.com/demographics.html