Editorials & Other Articles

teach1st

(5,932 posts) Wed Jan 4, 2012, 04:35 PM Jan 2012

In cold light of dawn, publisher sees reality of homelessness

Tampa recently banned panhandling at intersections, but not newspaper sales.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/in-cold-light-of-dawn-publisher-sees-reality-of-homelessness/1208991

In cold light of dawn, publisher sees reality of homelessness
Tampa Bay Times, 1/4/12

TAMPA — Before he published community newspapers, Bill Sharpe sold RVs. He was neither newspaper crusader nor do-gooder. He never liked giving money to panhandlers. He knew as much about the homeless as the next guy.

Two months of dawn interactions with people layered in sweatshirts and wool caps in a gravel parking lot on N Tampa Street have caused some kind of realignment. They all have stories. He has heard those stories since starting Tampa Epoch, a monthly homeless newspaper, after the city imposed its panhandling ban.

Every morning, as he resupplies his vendors, he hears more. Each has left an impression that, welcome or not, jolts his consciousness.

Elizabeth Ann Kain, 30, had a story. She had just gotten out of the hospital. She showed up at the parking lot at 7 a.m., asking to sell Epochs. He helped her cut off the hospital wristband. He gave her a bright blue Epoch T-shirt, an ID, a cloth bag and 25 free starter papers.