Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 12-17-21

Editorial
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Local
Tampa HOPE To Provide Housing For The Homeless
Tampa Hope is launching a new program to house nearly 300 homeless individ- uals in safer, more permanent facilities.
On Monday, December 13, 2021, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor opened the first 50 units with a ribbon cutting. The residents that will occupy those units were in atten- dance, along with officials from the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St Petersburg.
“Improving access to housing for all Tampa resi- dents is a central part of our Transforming Tampa’s To- morrow strategy, and I am so proud and grateful to be working with Catholic Chari- ties on this compassionate and innovative program to help people along the path to self-sufficiency,” Mayor Castor stated.
Catholic Charities will be providing food, clothing, transportation, education, employment and benefits as- sistance, substance abuse and mental health counseling, basic medical care, and case management services.
The Catholic Charities bought the land, the city will contribute the utilities, and Tampa police will provide pa-
trols.
The facility will start with
tents, modeled after the tem- porary tent housing they put up for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they helped 210 people and got 76 of them into perma- nent housing.
The program at 3704 E. 3rd Avenue in East Tampa will provide food, clothing, case managers, transporta- tion, employment assistance, financial counseling, sub- stance abuse and mental health counseling, as well as basic dental and medical care.
Tampa City council is con- tributing $750,000. The Catholic Charities said dona- tions are helping fund the program that will cost $7.3 million to build and run its first year, and about $3 mil- lion its second year.
Most residents will be staying in tents, until they can build out the Hope Cottages and the permanent structure facilities including restrooms, showers, laundry, and a kitchen.
Hope CottagesTM are 64 square feet with a one or two- person occupancy and are equipped with standard elec- trical outlets and electrical ca- pabilities required for heat and air conditioning. Hope Cottages are also extremely easy to clean and sanitize.
Each Hope Cottage fea- tures lockable doors and win- dows, an emergency escape panel, fire extinguisher, CO monitor and smoke detector, air conditioner and heater, bed with mattress, insulated walls, glass windows, electri- cal outlets, fold-away bed(s) and shelves and storage.
TAMPA HOPE HOUSING
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Earth Alert: Mega Weather Systems
e extend our condolences and prayers to the vic-
tims of the five-state tornado that devastated lives, homes, and communities this past week and which is ri- valed only by a 1925 Tri-State tornado with up to 200 mph winds that struck the states of Missouri, Illinois, and In- diana.
The unnamed storm killed 695 people, injured 2,000 people and destroyed 15,000 homes over a period of three and a half hours. There is no doubt that the recent tor- nado will be among the deadliest on record. We believe the December 2021 tornado was a reminder that we need to get serious about reducing global warning, the catalyst for some of the deadliest weather events in history.
The world has known that we should seriously inter- vene in the human activities that fuel forest fires, trans- portation systems, and methane emissions from natural gas, landfills, petroleum industries, grazing animals, coal mining and wastewater treatment for more than 25 years.
A reduction in global warning can contribute to reduc- ing earth’s temperature and calming the climate system. Considering that the United States, Russia, India, Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Mexico account for nearly one half of methane emissions, these countries have a lot of work to do.
Wildfires are becoming more frequent and more wide- spread. Right now, fires are burning in at least 21 coun- tries with most of them in South America, from the North Pole, and from Siberia, Russia to the Southern tip of Ar- gentina, and are destroying entire towns.
Moreover, heatwaves and draughts create dry vegeta- tion that fuels large fires. Wildfires drive up global tem- peratures and release greenhouse gases. Currently, scientists fear the fires are destroying wetlands and caus- ing layers of permafrost to melt, which could release large amounts of methane. Indeed, scientists worry most about fires that took place in Finland and Siberia, Russia, where forest fires are rare.
Consequently, the “new normal” weather conditions will include severe thunderstorms, mega size tornadoes, whirlwind hurricanes, and multi-state storm systems.
Citizens must pressure elected officials to implement climate intervention strategies now as in TODAY.
The time for talk is over!
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