Live Your Best Life Barefoot
Live Your Best Life Barefoot
EP #27: Good Nights for Neighbors with Jeremy Harris
Today we talk with Jeremy Harris from St Vincent De Paul Cares. He sheds light on the homeless problem in SWFL and what we can do to help.
Here is the link to donate to help buy beds for the recently housed. Every bit helps!
https://bonitaspringsesterorealtorsfl.growthzoneapp.com/ap/donate/9QraO9PW
Also to get in touch with Jeremy Harris you can call at 727-401-8047
or email at Jeremyh@svdpsp.org
To learn more:
https://barefootbungalowhomes.com/
Barefoot Bungalow Realty
9200 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Suite 100
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 350-5535
Welcome to the live your best life barefoot podcast with your host Mary Morrison and the team at barefoot bungalow Realty.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the next episode of live your best life barefoot. I'm Ruth, and I'm here with Mary today. Hi Mary. Hey,
Speaker 3:How
Speaker 2:Are you? Great. How's everything going?
Speaker 3:Really good. Good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you got a market update for us?
Speaker 3:I do. I, the, the feds are going to be announcing this week. What our interest rates at least for the near future are gonna be. And, um, we're anticipating some increase in interest rates. So they're going to increase the prime, um, which is something we all wanna keep our eye on, cuz that makes a huge difference in our housing market. So, um, we'll keep you updated. And as soon as we hear more, we'll let you know. Um, hopefully they're gonna give us an outline of what their overview for the whole year is. We're not sure if they're just gonna announce the next bump or the whole year. So hopefully we get a picture of the whole year that we'll keep you posted.
Speaker 2:Well, leading into that, we can start and introduce our, our guest for today. We have Jeremy Harris with us. He's with St. Vincent DEPA cares. Hi Jeremy, how are you?
Speaker 4:Good
Speaker 3:Morning. Hi Jeremy. Welcome.
Speaker 2:Welcome. Thank you.
Speaker 4:Thank
Speaker 3:You. Thank you so much for joining us. This is something that, uh, Ruth and I are passionate about for a couple reasons. Uh, first of all, we are part of a leadership group with our local, uh, real estate, um, board that we are helping partner with St. Vincent DEPA cares and provide beds for, um, those people who have recently been homeless and now are getting into homes. Why don't you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 4:Sure. Um, so what we do here at St. Benson Nepal, we're rapid rehousing, um, meaning we don't, we don't screen you and say, all right, if you do X, Y, and Z, you're ready to be housed. We believe that everybody needs a house as a stable foundation, then we can address whatever it is, the lack of job, lack. You know, maybe it is you need recovery from drugs, alcohol, anything like that, but you can't do those things without a, a stable place to stay. It makes it near impossible. So that's what we do. We basically, we find, we find affordable housing. We can help pay the rent. We can help pay bills until we get them back on their feet. So we never, I never call it a handout. It's a hand up. It's just, it's basically there for, if you're down on your luck, you know, coming up with a security deposit in first month's rent, you're working in a minimum wage job. That's almost impossible. Yeah. So that's what we're here for.
Speaker 3:So do you have access to some, um, housing resources that are, are helpful?
Speaker 4:We do. We have, um, we have housing specialists, um, that work with, uh, local landlords, local property managers, and go out and explain our programs, sell them on, Hey, this is what we can do for you. Sometimes we can offer incentives like double deposit. It just depends on what the grant says as an incentive to a landlord. That's, you know, take in our P people because there is a stigma with homelessness that I don't think people fully understand that it's not this dirty person sitting on the corner using drugs. Uh, like I was saying earlier, 90% of my people are just, you know, they, they missed a couple of weeks work that now they're outta, you know, or rent went up too much and they're on a fixed income. I have a lot of retired veterans who I had one that his spouse passed away. Well, that was half of his income was social security, her social security now what's he supposed to do so, especially with the way rent prices are going right now. We look at it more of as a hand up, more than a handout.
Speaker 3:So I wanna back up a little, how did you end up here?
Speaker 4:Um, I, um, I was a Navy veteran. I was Navy 10 years. Um, and I always kind of had a passion to help. Uh, I don't, I think any veteran will tell you that that that need to serve is always there. And one day I woke up and had my midlife crisis and I said to my wife, I said, I don't wanna make any more money. I want to go help people. And she actually let me do it. So, So that's how I ended up. I just, it kind of a fluke thing. I was scrolling indeed one day and this came up and you have to be a veteran to be in my role. I thought, wow, this is perfect. And it has been, I love, I love what I do
Speaker 3:And tell us about, uh, the organization itself.
Speaker 4:Um, just here in Lee county here, uh, alone last year, we housed 111 families in one year. Um, and that's, that's really good. Our office has only been here since 2020. So we started in the pandemic, our office opened. Wow. And so that was chaos. And then, and you know, but in the last year we've really taken off and really done really well. We've got great landlords we work with, and we've got a great team here. It really it's. It comes down to caring about people. And we got a lot of really good people that I work with that really care and really try to do the best because we don't want to just take somebody, throw'em in an apartment where they're not close to their resources. Say they need the food pantry. They need to be close to the doctor. They need public transportation. So we don't just say, Hey, here you go. Here's a house, good luck. You know, we take into consideration that person's knee in the community and, and where we can have or where they could best be home housed, not home.
Speaker 2:You, you know, that's one thing when we moved here, we haven't lived here very long, but when we came from Oregon, which Oregon has a really high populated homeless problem. And here you don't think that there's a lot of homeless here cuz you don't see'em around. Like you don't my, honestly I thought there wasn't a homeless problem here because you don't see.'em like you did in Oregon. You don't see'em sitting on the corner. You don't see'em everywhere.
Speaker 4:Um, and that's, that's a little bit to do with our local government. Um, the policy, especially in lean Collier county is more, if you don't see'em they're not there. They're not a problem. Um, so like, uh, for instance, right across the street from me is lions park and they used to be, it used to be a big homeless camp, but the city ran'em out because they don't want them to be seen.
Speaker 2:So they put'em though, they run'em out. And then where do these people go?
Speaker 4:They, they they're they're they're transient. So they're gonna go into the woods or, I mean, a lot of my guys live in a tent in the woods. It's Florida, right? It's one place you can live all year outside. Right. So, and if, if they get with the cops, another thing we had with the Sheriff's department was they get a$250 trespassing ticket. Well, you're already homeless. So what good does that do? Now? You just added another barrier. That's gonna prevent me from housing you. Right,
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 4:So they try to stay out of sight just because for that reason.
Speaker 2:Well, that's amazing cause you really, I never thought it was a problem here, but I got to know Megan and you know, she talked about the problem and I like our pro you know, the, uh, the project that we're doing with buying the beds, cuz we're gonna buy 30 beds for the homeless. And I think that's an amazing program because then it'll give them something to sleep on.
Speaker 4:You know, it, it is, it's amazing because one of the things we really, we don't just house people and then that's it, we walk away, we case manage and stay with them for up to a year. Wow. But one of the hardest things is keeping someone housed. And if you go put'em in an empty apartment with nothing, well they're just gonna go back to what they know. Right. You know, they'd rather, when you go into these homeless camps, it's almost its own community. You know, these people know each other, look out for each other, just like any the other neighborhood or community.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 4:So when you take somebody out of that and put'em into a house or an apartment or a room share whatever, and they have nothing and no sense of community, they're just gonna go back and, and we don't want that.
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I should clarify. We're we're going to provide beds for people who you you've recent individuals that you've recently housed because they don't have access to some of those things, you know, just getting them into the house. Sometimes they don't have any, they don't have a bed, they don't have bedding. So, um, we're, we're gonna help provide that part of it, that piece of,
Speaker 4:And, and, and in line with what you guys have done. I've, I've been, I'm working with, um, Dropbox, Bonita, it's a mattress company outta Bonita Springs. He's gonna help donate some of the bedding also. And when we purchase the mattresses, so they they're, they want to help out too. They're a great partner of mine. Um, he works with me to keep, I can buy veterans beds, um, and he works to keep my price really low, to get them a bed, cuz I'm only allowed to spend so much money. Right. And they're, they've been really, really good to us.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. That's awesome. Very good.
Speaker 3:So tell us about, um, what your typical day looks like.
Speaker 4:And my day is never the same, but um, I, I do a lot of our outreach, so I do things like this. Um, but I'm, I'm mainly work with veterans. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm their peer mentor. Um, just to basically say, Hey, I, I understand I've navigated the VA. I, I get what it's like to come home and not have a purpose. Certain, you know, it's hard to go from being the tip of the spear, to sweeping the floor at some car dealership, you know, that, that sense of purpose it goes away. So I'm here to just help them understand, Hey, it doesn't have to be this way, you know? And Hey, I, I can help you with the VA or I can help you get your DD two 14. So prove you're a veteran or anything like that. So every day is different for me. Um, a lot of my vets will just call just because they want somebody to talk to. And that's my job too, just to sit there and listen, I'm not a therapist I'm not licensed, but I, I can sit there and not talk. Sometimes that's all they need. Right.
Speaker 3:Just knowing someone's there. So that's
Speaker 2:What I was gonna say. Just having somebody to talk to
Speaker 4:And somebody who's, who's navigated the same systems, have the same challenges they have. You know, I understand what it's like when you come into the civilian world, all of a sudden all these titles you have in, in the Navy or whatnot, they don't mean anything to anybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So It's hard to it's
Speaker 4:It's nice for them to have an ear that underst
Speaker 3:So tell us about, so the other part of this, um, project that we feel passionate about is we are in the housing industry, tell us how our crazy market has impacted
Speaker 4:It's. This has been one of the roughest years, especially through my older, um, clients, because when they're on a fixed income, such as social security, I read an article the other day that Southwest Florida is experiencing some of the highest rent hikes in the country. And I mean, the stuff we can get now for 1150, you know, a month is a hotel room. It's absolutely crazy. And to ask somebody who has limited or no income to sustain, that is impossible. So we definitely need a market adjustment, at least on the rents. And we need more affordable housing because every everything we're putting up down here is, you know, premium condos or gated neighborhoods, when that that's not gonna work forever. Um, there's only so many rich people we can pile down here. Somebody has, like, I always say, somebody has to cut, cut your grass, you know, and they've gotta live somewhere to do it.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:So we really, really desperately need affordable housing in Southwest Florida. It's it's gonna become a crisis before long. I really, I really see it coming.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Did you, what, with that Amazon opening too, none of those people, you know, you, those are common. What, you know, paid people. They're not to afford million dollar houses
Speaker 4:And, and that's, that's, that's what we're running up against in the last year. I've had more, um, senior clients that have just been priced out of their house that they've rented for 10, 15 years, because either a, they want too much for rent now or B it was, you know, the market's hot, let's sell this investment property and, you know, make quick profit. Right. A lot of my families that I've held this year have been that situation. So like, I would say that stigma of dirty homeless is not necessarily the case.
Speaker 3:Right. It's the person next door.
Speaker 4:It is. It really is. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So, uh, tell me about how you see the best, um, opportunities for people to be able to help in get involved.
Speaker 4:Always. Uh, my biggest thing is donations. I love donations, but, um, for me personally, I love when people donate the simple things that people don't think about. Um, paper towels, paper, towel, holders, um, laundry baskets, you know, clean supplies, stuff that just basic everyday things that really add up. When you ask a family to go, I mean, we've all moved I'm sure. And gone to Walmart or whatnot. And wow. That was$500 just in stuff that goes under the sink, you know? And, and that's, that's a big challenge for people. So those are the things that I like to see donated it's more than clothes is easy. Food is easy, but I can give you a hundred places to eat and I can give you a hundred places to get free food. It's it's those basic necessities you need around the house that are harder to find
Speaker 3:That you think about. Yeah. Yeah. So do you have a favorite story of someone that you've,
Speaker 4:Oh, I can, I can give you a few. But, um, I had just recently I had a client who was a musician, um, before he became a heroin addict, he lost his family, lost, uh, his wife left him, took the kids. He's now clean and recovered, but he, uh, came to me and he said, I just really wanna play music again, but I can't afford a guitar. So I reached out and through one of, one of the realtors, um, in there was a former musician, um, reached out and bought this guy a brand new guitar. And he cried. I mean, just to think that somebody cared enough to make that little extra for him. It meant the world to him. And those are, those are the days when you realize, you know, I love what I do is when you move somebody into a house after they've been chronically homeless for years, you know, and they realize those are their keys. This is their house. You know, this is where they live. A and you see that emotion on somebody, uh, it makes every, every hard day worth it.
Speaker 3:So that's, um, what, uh, let's start with, how's the best way. If somebody's finding themselves in a situation that they might need a little extra help, how do they reach out
Speaker 4:Here in Lee county? Um, two, one is the coordinated entry it's and what they will do is then they will assess them over the phone, um, and then assign them to an agency like myself, or there's a couple of other agencies, salvation, army being one of them. And then we take over from there, we have federal and local grants that pay us a certain amount of money every year to rehouse, you know, rehouse the homeless. So like, I, I tell my clients, if, if you don't take this money next year, they won't gimme any money. So don't look at it as a handout, look at it as the next person in your shoes, that money will be here for it. So, you know, cause if I don't spend these grants, they're gonna give'em to me anymore.
Speaker 5:So, right.
Speaker 4:So really that's, that's the biggest thing is just dialing 2, 1, 1, and getting connected with the Lee county homeless coalition and, and then they'll refer you to us and we take over and it, when I get a referral, I contact that person within 24 hours and I try to see them either same day or next. Um, I typically get five, six referrals a week and that's just on the veterans side. Um, so it's a bigger problem than people realize. I don't think people realize. And, and it, it is a lot of, a lot of, I just can't afford my rent. I, you know, I move down on here a couple of years ago. Now my wife has passed, you know, I have half my income. It, it's not the stigma that people think.
Speaker 5:Yeah,
Speaker 3:That's scary. Right. Okay. So then the next part is how do those of us who ha are in a position that we can help and donate? Um, we're, we're gonna put in our, um, notes when we, when we post the podcast a link to where you can donate directly to our, um, we're calling it good nights for neighbors. Um, so we'll have that, but is there other ways that people can, um, donate or
Speaker 4:They can always get in contact with me? I do all of our donor relations down here in Southwest Florida. Um, I can give you my number or my email and I gladly I'll take any one of those phone calls. Anytime. Anytime somebody wants to give I'm more than receptive, I'll meet you anywhere. Okay.
Speaker 2:That'd be great. Let's get your information on here. So let's, what's your phone number? Jeremy.
Speaker 4:All right. My, my phone number here at work is area code 7 2 7 4 0 1 8 0 4 7.
Speaker 2:And then what's your email? Jeremy?
Speaker 4:It is Jeremy H SV DP, S p.org.
Speaker 2:Perfect. That'll be perfect for our people to get ahold of you. So do you have any fun things that you'd like to tell our, our listeners about that you like to do?
Speaker 4:Um, here at work? Uh, like I always, I always say, you know, don't, don't look at the panhandler as bad. They're, they're doing the best they can. Um, and you don't necessarily have to hand money out the window, sometimes a little bit of food, you know, like I, like I was saying, I keep toiletries and things in my car. Just things like that. It makes all the difference in the world. And it, it really, I, I mean, not to fill your own bucket, but it does make you feel better when you help. It does. I mean, we all know that it, it brings a little joy to your heart to help someone else. So every little bit counts.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Yeah. That's a really good too with the bags too. I like that. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Um, well thank you, Jeremy, for coming on the pro. So thank you so much for the work that you do. That's a huge contribution to our community. We really appreciate it. We're excited to work with you guys.
Speaker 4:I'm excited to work with you guys also
Speaker 3:Well, and thank you, um, everyone for listening and please make sure that you reach out and help us to take care of our neighbors and, um, provide for them things that they might be able to not provide for themselves right now. So, and on that note, we want to remember all of you remind all of you to live your best life barefoot.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the live, your best life barefoot podcast sponsor by big barefoot bungalow Realty. To learn more about barefoot bungalow Realty, go to www.barefootbungalowrealty.com or call 2 3 9 3 5 0 5 5 3 5.