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Haven for Hope rally celebrates milestone of helping the homeless

Hundreds attended a BBQ and community resource fair for people who are homeless.

Hundreds of people turned out for the Fifth Annual Hope Rally at Columbus Park downtown on Saturday.

Sponsored by Haven for Hope, it was a chance for those who are homeless to connect with each other and valuable resources in a fun and safe way.

Haven for Hope Outreach Manager Ron Brown called the event an opportunity to celebrate success.

“This is to help keep people motivated and keep the light shining,” said Brown as he was surrounded by high-energy volunteers from a number of community outreach partners. “This is one way of gathering everyone together and reuniting, talking, finding out where people are in life.”

A free lunch was provided by donations from Kiolbassa, the San Antonio Food Bank, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's St. Vinnie's Bistro. There was also a resource fair with participants from the Thrive Youth Center, Family Violence Prevention Services, Veterans Affairs, the San Antonio Police Department's HOPE Team, and San Antonio Fear Free Environment (SAFFE) officers.

Brown said that while there are still many people on the streets who refuse to accept help, those who do are finding successful new lives.

"The 4,000th person has graduated from Haven for Hope. That's 4,000 people not on the streets, 4,000 people that are being productive in society again, and 4,000 people who have some hope and took advantage of it," Brown said.

Curtis Tepfer said that he’s one of those success stories and he’s very grateful for the help.

Tepfer said that outreach workers from Haven for Hope found him and his brother in a drainage ditch near I-35 and O’Connor in very bad condition. Tepfer said that he believes he would not be alive today if not for the intervention because of severe malnutrition and bad health.

“We didn't have a place to stay and we thought we could make it on our own, but we were wrong,” said Tepfer, who added that he was initially hesitant to go to Haven for Hope because he thought they offered little more than a mat to sleep on.

He said that he was surprised by all the resources he was offered at no cost.

“They have all kinds of programs for everybody in there. You just have to find the one that works for you, which I did. They get you assistance and get you out,” Tepfer said. “I changed my life. I got in a program. I'm doing good. I got a job. I'll have housing within six months."

Tepfer explained that while some people are unwilling to abide by the house rules at Haven for Hope, the access to free medical, dental, and other services make the guidelines easy to live with for him.

“It beats the heck out of the streets, and all your stuff is paid for. What do you have to lose? You have more to gain than you have to lose. That's the way I look at it. They've done a lot for me. I love Haven for Hope,” Tepfer said.

The leadership team said that if they had more beds and more employers willing to give people a fresh start, many more of the people they serve would be on the road to a new life.

"You can't arrest the problem away. You have to love the problem away,” Brown said.

For more information about Haven for Hope, where you can get involved in their life-saving effort, you can visit their official website here.

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