Local Dover church speaks for homeless community

The pastor of Victory Church turned around and addressed the audience at Dover’s City Hall, asking “How many here are homeless or have been homeless in the past 6 months?” More then half of the 100 people in attendance, raised their hands.

The homeless community in Dover is growing and for the first time today, Dover residents are addressing the city council.  These individuals are not lawyers or politicians. They are volunteers and church members that just want to make a difference.

According to the Governor’s office, every year, on average, about 8,000 people in Delaware experience homelessness at least once  Dover alone has five homeless shelters but still over 100 known homeless people in the community. Aaron Appling is a Pastor for Victory church and he says Monday’s meeting is a cry for help.

“We’ve been for about at least six months, seven days a week on the streets trying to get attention.” said Appling. “And we just want the people that have the authority and have the influence and have power, to do something.”

Appling and other Dover city leaders like Sue Harris are not only spreading awareness about the problem they also feel they’ve come up with a solution.

“We’re hoping for abandoned homes there’s land backing opportunities for vacant houses and abandoned properties.” said Sue.

But to restore those abandoned properties, the group would need permission from the city. They would also need city approval to shelter people in tiny houses, which are 10X20 homes,  each built with a full bathroom, kitchen, and pull out bed. These spaces are designed to house one person. Each house would cost about 10,000 to build  but nothing is expected to happen without the city’s approval.

The plan moving forward is to come up with an agreement to build tiny homes but in the meantime come up with solution for Dover’s current homeless population