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Leadership Wilkes-Barre ‘Let’s Grow’ team seeks to build Head Start garden

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Lottery Numbers for Sunday, Feb. 5

WILKES BARRE &#8212; On a recent winter evening with temperatures plummeting below freezing, dozens of people gathered at the Wyoming Valley Rescue Mission to hear a message and share a meal.The mission is part of the Keystone Rescue mission with locations in both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.To many, the building nestled in the Sherman Hills Apartment Complex has become an oasis, not only of food and warmth, but of life.Other shelters and services across the Wyoming Valley were also reaching out a hand to the homeless and to those who are at risk of homelessness not simply to provide one more meal or one more night of shelter, but also to provide tools for long-term success to those they serve.Ruth&#8217;s Place provides shelter for women, Mother Teresa Haven provides shelter for men, St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen feeds the needy on a regular basis, the Commission on Economic Opportunity provides resources for those with a variety of financial needs.Still the need is ongoing, and it is measurable.Housing challengesin Luzerne CountyData from the American Community Census survey for 2011-2015 shows that almost 50 percent of Luzerne County&#8217;s renters are cost-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent and utilities.The study also shows that mental illness, substance abuse and domestic violence often accompanies homelessness &#8212; making additional services necessary if the homeless are to remain in housing and those with housing maintain it for the long term.Many nonprofit agencies throughout Luzerne County provide various services, which when taken in their entirety address diverse needs that range from food to shelter to mental health support.Assisting on acase-by-case basis Ken Parhan remembers passing out on the lawn of the Wyoming Valley Rescue Mission&#8217;s sister facility in Scranton while waiting for dinner.Having recently been released from prison, he was homeless, jobless and hopeless.Passing out in the grass was, in the long run, the best thing that ever happened, he says.He woke up in a hospital knowing that he didn&#8217;t want his life to be about drugs anymore.Members of his church encouraged him to enter the mission&#8217;s Life Change program, and he did.Since then, Parhan hasn&#8217;t looked back.Now a graduate of the program, having completed it this past September, and working full time, Parhan still resides at the mission but is looking forward to getting his own apartment.Looking forward, he said, but not too far forward.&#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine being happier or more content than I am now,&#8221; he said.Much like Parhan, Greg Acosta also found a refuge at the mission.Having been homeless in New York, he and his wife arrived in Wilkes-Barre last November determined to make a new life for themselves.Soon after, however, their rent was raised, and they found themselves in danger of becoming homeless.It was then that Acosta found the mission and his life was turned around.Committed,qualified staff Parhan credits Joe Roach, the mission&#8217;s life change assistant, with providing support and direction that made finding a job possible.Roach said not only does the mission provide a meal for the needy four days a week, it also identifies needs and seeks to address them.Roach carries in his pocket &#8220;wish lists&#8221; from those who attend meals or simply stop by.The lists are always simple, &#8220;socks, a hat, underwear&#8221; &#8212; those things that enable people to live life, to get jobs, to retain their self-esteem.Roach credits the generosity of those who donate their time, money and goods to the mission with enabling him to obtain items on the list.&#8220;More often than not, we&#8217;re able to provide what is needed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We want to increase people&#8217;s quality of life.&#8221;John Gleason, executive director of both the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton facilities, said that at one point, the Scranton facility received a phone call from a woman in Ohio who was driving to Scranton to pick up her husband, who had become ill while traveling through the area.&#8220;He was being released in the morning, and she wasn&#8217;t going to get here until later in the day,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He spent the day safe and warm in the common area until his wife got him right before dinner.&#8221;That responsiveness to specific need, Roach said, is what the mission is all about.During the last several weeks, he became aware that someone needed a winter coat.&#8220;I asked him what he meant that he didn&#8217;t have a winter coat,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the middle of the winter.&#8221;So, Roach did the only thing that he said that he could do &#8212; he gave him his.Just as he put together items from the &#8220;wish lists&#8221; that are handed to him, so he seeks to provide unspoken wish lists of items needed by those who cross his path.Using outdoorencampments Roach is aware that although, for the most part, those at the mission will have shelter for the evening, perhaps 20 percent of them will not have a warm bed to return to for the night.He knows of one homeless couple, for example, who prefer to live outside rather than in a shelter apart from each other.&#8220;In Luzerne County, there are no homeless shelters that take couples,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They love each other, they want to be together.&#8221;The mission provides tarps and drop cloths for those sleeping outdoors for the night.Executive Director/CEO. John G. Gleason, said the rescue mission&#8217;s Scranton location has an even greater percent of &#8220;street homeless,&#8221; those who live outdoors.&#8220;It&#8217;s those people who when it is extremely cold, don&#8217;t show up for the meal,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They&#8217;re too concerned with finding a warm place to stay for the evening.&#8221;Shannon Hinkle also goes out to provide blankets for those sleeping in tents outside.&#8220;They are there,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They are absolutely there.&#8221;Roach said the mission is willing to meet them where they are.Although the organization is based on Christian beliefs, and the nightly meal includes a &#8220;message&#8221; about the Gospel, Roach said the staff does not push religion on people.&#8220;When they are ready,&#8221; he said, &#8220;they will come.&#8221;Addressingharsh realities Still, the good feelings are sometimes interrupted by harsh reality.For example, during a recent meal, two city police officers removed an attendee from the room.After he left, those who had been sitting with him surmised the reason for his removal, one even briefly leaving to confer with the police.Still, the interruption was minor, and attendees went back to quiet conversation in short order.Many attendees say that they look forward to the meal, offered four days a week, as an opportunity to interact with others and to gain knowledge of resources available.Many say when those who are struggling financially, mentally, spiritually, have access to an environment such as the mission, they are able to improve and even prosper.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Shannon Hinkle sings a song during an event at the Keystone Rescue Mission Alliance in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL01XX17Homeless1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Shannon Hinkle sings a song during an event at the Keystone Rescue Mission Alliance in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL01XX17Homeless3-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Guest preacher Joe Roach leads a prayer before the event at the Mission Alliance. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL01XX17Homeless3-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Guest preacher Joe Roach leads a prayer before the event at the Mission Alliance. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL01XX17Homeless4-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jim Hinkle plays a worship song, singing with his wife Shannon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL01XX17Homeless4-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Jim Hinkle plays a worship song, singing with his wife Shannon. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL01XX17Homeless2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ron Zabriski listens to a performance by Jim and Shannon Hinkle at the Keystone Rescue Mission Alliance in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL01XX17Homeless2-2.jpg</photo3><caption3>Ron Zabriski listens to a performance by Jim and Shannon Hinkle at the Keystone Rescue Mission Alliance in Wilkes-Barre. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Geri GibbonsFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>SOURCES OF HELP&#8226; Ruth&#8217;s Place, emergency shelter for women, 570-822-6817 (assistance with transportation from the Hazleton area)&#8226; Mother Theresa Haven, emergency shelter for men, 570-825-9948&#8226; Catholic Social Service, Hazleton, Divine Providence Shelter: 570-861-4750&#8226; Manna House, transitional housing for adults 18 through 25 - 570-825-0542&#8226; The Salvation Army, Hazleton, provides a daily meal and information about community resources - 570-454-5476&#8226; St. Vincent Soup Kitchen - 570-829-7796&#8226; Keystone Rescue Mission, Wilkes-Barre, provides free &#8220;meals and a message&#8221; several times a week - 570-270-6677&#8226; National Call Center for Homeless Veterans, 1-877-4AID-VET&#8226; Catholic Social Services provides a variety of services to homeless people, including assistance in finding and keeping jobs - Wilkes-Barre: 570-208-2997, Hazleton: 570-455-1521</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach the Times Leader newsrom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.</shirttailMeta></div>

Making their way back: Local residents rebound from homelessness