Food is no longer St. Paul’s primary concern. Counseling, group therapy, case management—these are the next challenges, Bostwick says. Many people are still displaced, working on elevating their homes, waiting for FEMA state numbers, or living with relatives. “Once the Bistro ceases operation, there will be a sense of loss. It’s what we have known every day for the past year,” Bostwick says. “It is why we are transitioning, not stopping.” St. Paul’s is launching a new nonprofit called the Hope Center to address these new needs. It will focus on single parents, people who are working multiple part-time jobs, and people looking for work. National organizations are helpful, Bostwick says, but their approach is to paint with broad brushstrokes. “We catch the people who fall between the cracks,” he says. “We catch the single moms. We catch people who were living in apartments before the storm and now don’t know where they are going to live. We catch the undocumented folks…and the people who still have to use the church for a bathroom during the day because they don’t have one yet.”
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 10:28:19 +0000
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