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Big Bend Homeless Coalition's 'Service Day' Helps The Homeless Reconnect

R.Benk
/
WFSU-News
The "Flow Bus" helped more than 30 people getting IDs

For fourteen years the Big Bend Homeless Coalition has hosted a day of service for the area’s homeless population, where homeless citizens can get healthcare, haircuts and a home-cooked meal. But, this year’s event featured a new way to help the homeless reconnect.

The Big Bend Homeless Coalition’s Stephanie Beckingham said Friday’s event was designed to function as a person’s first step out of homelessness, in part by helping those without one obtain an ID card.

“They’re homeless there’s a state law that says they get a fee waiver for that ID – now it’s on site. They’ve got the documentation they need; they’re getting a free ID. Now they can go get that job that they need, they can get that housing, they can vote, they can access the services that they haven’t been able to access in the past,” Beckingham explained.

One of those people is Richard Pearson, who became homeless when foreclosure forced him out of his home in Georgia. He doesn’t intend on using his ID to vote, but he will be using it to file the papers to get his house back.

“They’re in the process of doing some stuff for me right now. One of them is I lost my house which was an illegal transaction where they basically bought my mortgage out and wouldn’t accept a payment from me when I tried to make a payment,” Pearson said.

Pearson says he plans to file a motion against the bank and move to Georgia, new ID in hand…