Keeping Hope Alive: Love and caring from the next generation

So often these days we hear about "kids today" doing foolish things, being selfish beings. But at DNWA we have seen numerous examples of just the opposite: kids who care and kids who do smart things. A good example was the recent outdoor screening of Dare Not Walk Alone orchestrated by the Intervarsity goup at Flagler College. It made a lot more people aware of the movie than an indoor showing.
Another great example is what Meghan Fretto and her friends did just before Christmas of 2006. Meghan is the younger sister of Mike Fretto who designed the Dare Not Walk Alone web site and performed numerous other helpful tasks during the making of the film. When Meghan and her peers from her church youth group heard about the unfortunate circumstances of the Coley family after the tragic fire they were touched. Their response was to make and sell Christmas wreaths to raise money. You can read all about it over at the Rosa Loves blog (which is where Mike and friends sell very cool t-shirts designed to raise money and consciousness).

The funds that Meghan and friends raised--well over $500!--will really help when work starts on the house that is going to replace the one that burned down. But what these kids did will do a lot more than that. First of all, it will serve to remind everyone that there are kids who have initiative and drive and who care about others. Second, it is yet another example of how caring crosses all barriers, such as those of age and race, and in so doing, helps to wear them down.

So we all thank Meghan and her friends very much and very sincerely for what they did.

Coley Family Housing Update: People can pull together to make things happen!

When the home of Helen Coley at 521 Woodlawn in Saint Augustine burned down, the family's plight touched many people. The home had been highlighted in Dare Not Walk Alone as an example of the inferior living conditions that existed forty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, right here in the community that fought to get that law passed.

The day after the fire there was an immediate outpouring of material assistance in the community, graciously handled by the local paper, the St. Augustine Record, with aid of folk from several churches and under the eventual coordination of Chey Cobb, one of the executive producers of Dare Not Walk Alone. Chey was eventually able to get Helen and her family relocated to subsidized housing to await rebuilding of the home at 521. In the meantime, St. Johns County stepped up with a program to remove the remnants of the burned out building at no cost (if you know anything about construction, you know this is a big savings because clearing a lot really racks up labor and machinery costs, not to mention heft waste disposal fees).

Thanks to Derek Hankerson of the St John's Housing & Community Services Division, Helen and Chey have completed the paperwork for this phase. Timing of the rebuilding is not clear yet, but it will be financed in part by the donations that continue to come in (see Love Continues to Spread) and for which Helen and here family are deeply grateful. There is also some insurance money to work with.

Helen's case is an interesting example of the complexity of low and fixed income housing issues. Helen had lived in the house for nearly 30 years. There was no mortgage. But she hardly ever had enough money left at the end of the month to foot the bill for repairs and maintenance. And she couldn't afford comprehensive insurance coverage. In other words, and this is by no means a unique situation in this community, if the house is destroyed by a storm or a fire, the owner doesn't have the means to replace it. There is not enough income coming in for a new mortgage or building loan payments. Cases like this tend to slip through all the safety nets and government/private assistance programs.

But there is good news. The county really seems to be paying attention to these problems now and making a serious effort to improve the quality of housing for residents of this community. Nobody is expecting miracles overnight, but the continued concern and generosity of people locally and beyond is making a difference.

Praise Where Praise is Due: St. Augustine Record Coverage of Racial Struggles

Kudos to Margo Pope of the St. Augustine Record for her story on the hidden history of the city, the unmarked sites of significance in the struggle that precipitated the passage of the first civil rights act in 1964. We are sure that more of the these sites will be marked in the future.

And kudos to the city and county officials who have been so receptive to the needs of the Coley family--there is a real sense that they will help move the rebuilding forward. The attitude of the county as a whole to affordable housing has really taken a positive turn and that needs to be noted.

Happy New Year!

Okay, so we are little late with our New Year wishes, bit no less sincere. We hope all of you have a blessed and bountiful 2007.

The end of 2006 certainly saw some wonderful examples of charitable hearts and minds at work. Contributions to the fund for the Coley family totalled over $1,000. We have not yet had a chance to thank all donors individually, but please know that your contributions, big and small, are all appreciated.

Thanks to the efforts of the wonderful staff at the Woodlawn Apartments, Helen and family were able to move into their temporary residence in time for Christmas. Unlike Christmases past at the house that burned down, heavy rains this Christmas Day posed no threat to an enjoyable dinner and the enjoyment of many gifts.

We are now working with St. John's County on the plans for a replacement for the burned out house and county officials have so far been extremely helpful and understanding. The donated funds will be used to help build the new house and we already have many offers of in-kind assistance with materials, labor, and construction expertise.

As for the movie, things are once again moving forward, with screenings scheduled for February in Phoenix and Buffalo (details to follow as soon as we have them). Director Jeremy Dean recently completed a new cut of the film which includes footage of the burned out house. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to Crawford Communications of Atlanta for their generous support of the editing process.
.

Where Have We Been? DNWA project 8-point update

Please accept our apologies for the prolonged silence, but we have been busy. Here is what's been going on:

1. The 521 Family: Helen has just this week heard that she and Precious and Quinton can move into an apartment at Woodlawn Terrace. This is HUD-subsidized housing and so the rent will be affordable. Helen is very pleased that she will be able to move in before Christmas. This will be where the family lives until project 2 is completed.

2. The house at 521 that was burned out has now been gutted as part of the preparation for the next phase: rebuilding a new home. George Holman has done a terrific job clearing the fire damage and Don Davino of New Augustine Construction arranged for the necessary "cans" [local term for dumpsters or what the Brits call skips].

3. In the New Year we will convene a meeting of building professionals to plan the next steps (permitting, design, etc). Incidentally, it was the same, some say the one and only, Don Davino, who was responsible for a major renovation of Woodlawn Terrace a few years ago and they are very nice units.

4. Financial donations to aid the 521 Family continue to come in (over $1,000 so far). Your generosity continues to inspire hope that has spread much further than this one family. We will be reporting on this campaign in more detail soon and letting you know the goals for 2007 and the rebuild.

5. The film (yes, we have to remind ourselves sometimes that Dare Not Walk Alone is a film as well as a movement) has been selected by THINKFilm for "non-theatrical distribution." What does this mean? First of all, THINKFilm is a highly respected company in the film business, self-described as a "Controversial producer and distributor of edgy and artful features." Being approached by, and then signed to, THINKFilm is a major achievement for the film, its director, and its loyal supporters (so give yourself a hearty pat on the back). We should to point out that this does not mean any revenue for DNWA, yet. DNWA still continues to cost money, not earn money [one of the executive producers plans to publish an article about this soon--some folks seem to think movie out=money in, but there is a lot more to be said about it than that, most of it written in red ink).

6. The best news about the arrangement with THINKFilm is that it pretty much guarantees a broader distribution of the film and the [eventual] DVD. We think this is a very good thing. The term "non-theatrical distribution" means screenings at festivals, schools, colleges, and a whole range of other venues. It keeps alive the possibility that, if the film plays well in these screenings, there will be some form of theatrical release, i.e. in regular or art-house movie theaters. And this means we will still pester you to "motivate the base." In other words, we will tell you when and where the film is playing so you can get your friends and family to go see it.

7. Speaking of staying in touch, be sure to get the feed from this blog to be kept posted, and/or sign up for the mailing list by going here and completing the form. We promise not to spam you...besides we're too busy to even try!

8. The last point for this posting is something of an open secret. It is certainly both unusual and exciting. The director, Jeremy Dean, is currently working on a new cut of the film that will include the fire. He has received the support of THINKFilm in doing this, which is a brave step on their part. This means there are no screenings scheduled for the next few months, and no mention of the film on the THINKFilm web site. But you will be the first to know when the new release is ready to roll.

Thanks again for your continued support. We hope that you will continue to believe, as we do, that the spirit of unconditional love can indeed achieve the Beloved Community of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream.

Dare Not Walk Alone Makes Front Page

The front page of today's St. Augustine Record features the work that Dare Not Walk Alone is doing on the post-fire housing situation of the Helen Coley family. (If you are reading this after today, you can find the story here.)

We want to send out a big Thank You! to the Record for devoting space to this story, and to everyone who has responded so generously (when we get the next bank statement we will know who has deposited money in the Putnam State Bank account and thank them individually).

We are now building a list of folks who have volunteered tine, resources, etc. The next step after that will be organizing the re-build but that will take time.

From what we have seen so far, the people of this county have a big heart, and a whole lot of the special kind of love that it takes to bring a community together.

Donate to Coley Appeal: PayPal and Credit Cards

Some folks have asked to make donations to the 521/Coley Family Appeal via credit card. The best and cheapest way that we know is through PayPal, which accepts just about any credit card and is secure. So we have provided a PayPal donation button at cobb.com, the web site of Dare Not Walk Alone's Executive Producers, Stephen and Chey Cobb.

This allows you to donate from an existing PayPal account, any major credit card, or a new PayPal account. It is easy and secure.

We thank you in advance for your donations. And if you prefer to send a check, just refer to the details in the previous posts.

Thanks!
>Donate now!<

How to Help the 521 Family

Helping a family deal with the loss of their home takes more than cash and material goods. It also takes time. We have already spent several days helping Helen get around to the various agencies in town to coordinate some of the basics (like replacement Social Security cards).

Some people have already volunteered their time and we have assigned the first few tasks, like moving donated goods into storage ready for sorting, and calling around motels to find the best rate on suitable rooms for Helen and her family to stay until they can move into one of the [very few] subsidized apartments in town.

(Of course, if you know of a 3-bedroom apartment/condo/house in St. Augustine that is available for a few months we'd love to hear about it.)

If you want to volunteer, please send an email to info@dnwa.info with the word "Volunteer" in the subject line. We can then send you our phone number (which we are reluctant to put on the web).

We are currently working on a task list but we already know we need people who are willing to provide some suitable mentoring and positive after-school recreation for 12 year-old Precious. Although Precious attends school during the day, there is a lot of after school time, and weekend time, that is hard to fill when you are staying in a motel and have very few resources.

Hopefully, in about three weeks we will need volunteers to help with the move into an apartment. Beyond that we will be working on the rebuilding plans. We have already had offers of assistance from several contractors (say what you want about building contractors--they often turn out to be some of the most generous souls in the community).


DNWA

Fire Destroys 521 Woodlawn

On Tuesday of last week, fire destroyed the house at 521 Woodlawn in Saint Augustine, a house that will be familiar to anyone who has seen the film. This was the home of Helen, her son Christoff, and grandaughter Precious, all of whom appear in the film. It was also home to grandson Quinton and grandaughter Tip. Helen had lived in the house for nearly thirty years.

The fire started in the wood stove that you see being lit in the movie. Anyone who, when viewing that scene, thought to themselves--That thing is a fire hazard--was sadly correct. Indeed, the incident raises a lot of questions about the safety of housing conditions for those who have very little money to spend after paying for food, water, electricity, and taxes.

(Here is a link to the local newspaper story. In the story Helen is referred to as Mary--Helen is her middle name and the name she prefers. Also, the copy editor changed Tip to a young man, an error for which the reporter has already apologized--nobody who has actually met Tip would make that mistake.)

Fortunately, very fortunately, nobody was injured in the fire, but Helen and her family lost all their belongings and the roof over their heads. Helen has been very strong through the shock and stress of this calamity but she is going to need a lot of help. Here at Dare Not Walk Alone we feel a special connection with Helen and her family so we are coordinating the response. So far we have managed to get:

• Temporary accommodation at a motel in Saint Augustine through the end of this week;
• A storage locker for all of the donations of clothes and household goods that people so generously donated at the St. Augustine Record office;
• Donations moved to the storage locker (thanks to Gardner, Doug, and Chris);
  
• A relay of evening meals delivered to the motel this week (thanks to Gardner's congregation);
• A volunteer to find further accommodation until a subsidized apartment becomes available in about three weeks (thanks to Debbie);
• A place for people to send cash donations that will be used first for temporary housing and then for the construction of a new house at 521 (thanks to Putnam State Bank);
  

Checks should be made out to "Dare Not Walk Alone" with the notation "Coley Family/#5367" in the Memo field and mailed to:

Putnam State Bank
Attention: Angela
2300 N Ponce de Leon Blvd
St. Augustine, FL 32084

(If you want further information about these instructions you can call Angela, the Branch Manager's Assistant, at 904-825-4555.) We will make sure that all of the funds received go directly to the family, and to the effort, just getting under way, to build them a new home at 521 Woodlawn.

One of the main goals of the "Dare Not Walk Alone" project has always been to help those members of Saint Augustine's African American community who are most in need. We had no idea that, for one family, those needs would become so urgent so soon. But we are hopeful that this sad event will become a rallying point for those who share that goal. So, we thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide and we will update you as this effort progresses. We will also try to find time to blog some of the things we are learning from this event, like the community's lack of coordination in the delivery social services, the charity of strangers, and hopeful steps that can be taken down the long road to lasting reconciliation.

Dare Not Walk Alone
Jeremy Dean, Director
Richard Mergener, Producer
Stephen and Chey Cobb, Executive Producers