Winder woman brings homeless off the street with new shelter

<p>In Barrow County, sewer pipes, state parks and downtown alley tents have served as homes for the homeless.</p><p>But a Winder woman is helping bring people off the street with a shelter that recently opened.</p><p>The Light Homeless Shelter has served 15 people since opening Jan. 7, said shelter organizer Fawn Alexander. Alexander converted a former homeless shelter that closed a year ago into her non-profit shelter, which is run through her two-year-old ministry, Fulfilling Gods Assignment.</p><p>Its one of four shelters in Winder that have been working to deal with the countys homeless population. The recently opened Highland House caters to teenagers in state custody. The 15-bed Peace Place offers shelter to domestic violence victims and Project Adam has 36 beds for homeless people with substance abuse problems.</p><p>The 15 people who have come to Alexanders eight-bed shelter have received more than a bed and hot meals _ Alexander provides budgeting and life skills workshops and job placement services.</p><p>The city has chipped in, paying for three months of nighttime security. The Barrow County School System donated a minibus. Several churches bought household items for the shelter.</p><p>Grants will help cover the facilitys $1,300 monthly overhead costs. It costs the shelter about $30 a night to house one person, Alexander said.</p><p>At the shelters start, Winder police told Alexander they had been dealing with eight to 10 homeless people a week, she said. Homeless people had even pitched tents in Fort Yargo State Park, said Mayor Buddy Ouzts, a member of the shelters advisory board.</p><p>In urban settings they (homeless people) are more visible, said Evan Mills, community development specialist with the Athens-Clarke Department of Human and Economic Development.</p><p>Mills said homeless people in more rural areas often have a broader network of families and friends who will give them a place to stay when they hit hard times.</p><p>Mary OToole, director of the Northeast Georgia Homeless Coalition, said theres not enough homeless shelters in Athens outlying areas. But shelters in rural counties often have trouble attracting the donations and grants needed to keep them open, she said.</p><p>Shelters can be expensive to run, and the homeless are often attracted to shelters in Athens and other bigger cities because they have more services available, OToole said.</p><p>Georgia Walters, 41, was at the Light last week. She said she has bounced from shelter to shelter, but recently enrolled in a truck-driver training course in Tennessee. She said shes just biding her time until classes resume.</p><p>She had been staying with family and at an Elberton shelter, but Barrow County is my home, so I just came home, Walters said.</p><p>Alexander said she doesnt want her shelter to be a revolving door but a true way out of homelessness for its residents.</p><p>Shes already been successful. Tim Buff, 39, one of the shelters first residents, started a job last week as a stocker at a Winder store.</p><p>Information from: Athens Banner-Herald</p>