Thousands seek refuge from cold at Christmas Day meal

ATLANTA - Anthony Nelson hasn&#39;t had a home or a haircut in nine months. Stanley Craigwell sleeps most nights in an unheated abandoned warehouse he refers to as a cat hole. <br> <br> The two were among thousands of hungry and homeless people who came in from the chilly weather Wednesday to celebrate Christmas at baseball&#39;s Turner Field in Atlanta, the venue for one of the largest public holiday meals in the country. <br> <br> Nelson, 44, headed straight for a makeshift barber shop set up next to the Atlanta Braves locker room. Craigwell, 52, started with dinner turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, cake and orange soda. <br> <br> ``This is a blessing here,&#39;&#39; Nelson said as he got his hair trimmed. <br> <br> A record 22,000 people were expected to have a meal at the annual event, which was put on by Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, a humanitarian group named after the late civil rights leader Hosea Williams. Donations and corporate sponsors covered the $60,000 cost. <br> <br> Volunteers worked through the night Tuesday in the kitchen of the DeKalb County Jail to cook 800 turkeys and 175 hams. Along with food and hair cuts, participants could take a shower, make a long-distance call to a relative, meet with a counselor and get one-way bus tickets, medical testing or clothes. Free subway tokens were given to people who gathered from across the area. <br> <br> Meals for about 6,000 shut-ins were being delivered to their homes. <br> <br> Other public dinners were provided Wednesday by the Ministries United for Service and Training in Marietta and the Atlanta Union Mission. Two other Atlanta groups Community Concerns and Overcoming With Joy also provided holiday meals. <br> <br> Organizers of the Turner Field event said that despite more government funding for homeless programs, the plight of the homeless is getting worse. A recent U.S. Conference of Mayors study found that requests for emergency food and housing assistance rose in dozens of cities this year and the trend is likely to continue into 2003. <br> <br> ``We&#39;ve got more than enough food, more than enough volunteers and more than enough people in need, which is the problem in America,&#39;&#39; said Elizabeth Omilami, Williams&#39; daughter and organizer of the event. <br> <br> Bush administration officials point to the more than $1.1 billion allocated earlier this year to help fund local housing and service programs around the country as a major source of help. But homeless people and their advocates say the funding isn&#39;t getting to those people who need it most. <br> <br> Craigwell, who has been homeless eight years, said there isn&#39;t enough advertising for public assistance programs. <br> <br> ``If they&#39;re giving out that money, where do you go for the help?&#39;&#39; he said. ``I&#39;d like to know that. I&#39;d like a part of that.&#39;&#39;