News & Public Affairs
Trinity Cafe opens in V.M. Ybor despite neighborhood objections listen
04/30/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Trinity Cafe, homeless, V.M. Ybor
Despite objections from some neighbors, a local charity will serve lunch to more than 200 of Tampa’s impoverished and homeless. Trinity Café opened its doors on Nebraska Avenue in the V.M. Ybor neighborhood Tuesday morning at 11:30. More than 100 people were already lined up waiting for a hot meal.
3 comments‘These folks are struggling, obviously. Some are homeless. Some are what we refer to as working poor. They’re making tough decisions deciding whether they’re going to eat dinner or pay a b...
Homeless recount in Hillsborough aims to find more people than January listen
04/10/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: homeless, homeless coalition, poverty, Hillsborough County
Volunteers combed the county Tuesday night to find out if there are still more than 7,000 people living on the streets Hillsborough County. Many fewer than that were counted in January, prompting this recount.
A woman named Kimberly sat alone on a curb in downtown Tampa saying she hoped the effort would help people like her.
Be the first to comment“I just try to, you know, get shelter when I can, fill out applications. I’m trying to go back to rehab. I eat lunch at Trinity where they feed the homeless fo...
Arrested activist claims St. Pete Police harass people without homes in Williams Park listen
03/28/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bruce Wright, poverty, St. Pete Police, homeless, homelessness, Bill Foster, St. Petersburg, Williams Park
A longtime homeless activist in St. Petersburg is claiming that police officers hurt him while he was trying to defend a homeless man in Williams Park Wednesday. Bruce Wright was arrested and charged with obstruction after another man being arrested got away. According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, officers had an arrest warrant for a man in the park. That report quoted Wright as saying “stop harassing that man” and then asking what he had done wrong.
Be the first to comment“You stiffen up a bit...
Tampa banker honored by city council for feeding the less fortunate listen
02/07/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Andre Kirwan, Tampa City Council, homeless, charity, homelessness
A Tampa banker and volunteer football coach was honored by city council this morning for his efforts to feed people without homes during the holiday season. But during a commendation ceremony at City Hall, Andre Kirwan asked that Neil Sayers, a local chiropractor and volunteer who passed away in November, also be recognized.
Be the first to comment“He always told me, ‘Andre, we’ve got to go big or go home’ and it’s been hard for me to kind of wrap my brain around the fact that through his passing, his dream wa...
New apartment complex offers housing for Tampa's chronically homeless listen
01/24/13 Ella WindWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Homeless, Housing, Mental Healthcare, Cypress Landing, Steps Forward, Rehabilitation, homelessness, Tampa
Two years ago, Tampa government officials began to investigate options for addressing Tampa's homeless population, which numbered around 18,000 people. On Wednesday, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at Cypress Landing housing complex in North Tampa, the first permanent housing complex for the chronically homeless in Hillsborough County.
The Cypress Landing complex will house the chronically homeless, those who are repeatedly homeless or have been homeles...
2 commentsVolunteers to count people without homes in Hillsborough County this week listen
01/22/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: homeless, homeless coalition, Lesa Weikel, Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County, homeless census
Volunteers are taking to the streets in Hillsborough to count how many people don’t have a place to live. The Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County will also take calls on Thursday to gather information about people without homes or who are about to become homeless. Lesa Weikel, the group’s spokesperson, said the count done two years ago found some 18,000 people who didn’t have a permanent residence.
Be the first to comment“We really don’t know what to expect. It’s a very common question as to whether it...
Lunch for veterans without homes opens job opportunities too listen
12/21/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Veterans, jobs, homeless, poverty, Hillsborough County, homelessness
Veterans who don’t have homes this holiday season got a warm meal this afternoon in Tampa. The Hillsborough County Veteran’s Affairs department doled out turkey dinners to about 40 vets, but also took the opportunity to help them get and keep jobs.
Veterans dined ten at a time, starting with this group. Kelly Beaver, a retired sailor in the Navy used to live on the streets. He’s still getting help from the county’s veteran's affairs department, but he said he’s on the road to recovery. ...
Be the first to commentFood Not Bombs volunteers share food in downtown Tampa park despite legal concerns listen
12/18/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Food Not Bombs, homeless, poverty, homelessness, Tampa
Volunteers with the group Food Not Bombs served breakfast to people in Gaslight Square in downtown Tampa Tuesday. The group has been feeding people in the city for years, but this particular routine started last week and will continue every Tuesday through the holidays.
“Well, we have sweet potatoes, oatmeal and bagels.”
That could change next week though. Thích Giác Ngô, a Buddhist monk with Food Not Bombs said the group gets most of their food from places who are about to throw it...
Be the first to commentLocal pastor charged with 8 felonies trying to put a roof over someone's head listen
11/27/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Adverse possession, squatter, homeless, housing, foreclosure, Tami Robinson
A Tampa Pastor is suing the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for arresting her after she helped a member of her congregation move into a home owned by someone else. Tami Robinson used centuries old land ownership loophole to try to acquire an abandoned home, but it didn’t work. Robinson said she and the woman she was helping were arrested and charged with eight felonies.
Be the first to comment“We’ve been charged with burglary, two counts of grand theft, two counts of burglary, two counts of impersonation...
Some low income families being forced onto the streets of Charlotte ahead of Democratic National Convention listen
08/31/12 Lisa MarzilliLast Call Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Deronda Metz, Charlotte, N.C., Salvation Army, Democratic National Convention, homeless
As Democrats gather in Charlotte, N.C. for their national party convention, an Op-Ed in the Charlotte Observer voiced concern over the fact that many low-income families in that city are being displaced from relatively affordable “extended stay” motels that have jacked up their rates to as high as $300 a night ahead in an effort to cash in on the DNC that begins on Tuesday. According to the Observer:
Be the first to commentA...
