Seeds Requesting More Support From Sparta

Sparta Aldermen approved a $1,500 donation to a local nonprofit assisting the homeless Thursday, but the organization asked the city to consider long-term support.

Seeds Of Hope Executive Director Tina Lomax asked the aldermen if they would consider adding the non-profit as a line item in next year’s budget. Lomax said the exact number of homeless people in Sparta fluctuates constantly but the need for services is always there.

“I’m sure that you all have noticed of our homeless population here locally, not your normal stigma homeless of your addicts and just people that aren’t working,” Lomax said. “Good families, mom and dad at home being priced out of their homes. And so we would for sure like for you all to partner with us.”

Lomax said the organization will be opening its first permanent homeless shelter, available year-round, in January. Lomax said homeless shelters in neighboring counties get consistent support from their host cities.

“I know that this is new for all of us here,” Lomax said. “We’ve not ever had a homeless shelter that’s going to be open year-round, so thank you.”

Lomax said Seeds of Hope also works as part of Sparta’s crisis intervention team. Lomax said the non-profit gets referrals from the police department, hospital, sheriff’s department, and school system.

“Our goal is to ultimately help these people become productive citizens of our community, get them the resources that they need, deal with the trauma that they’ve been dealt,” Lomax said. “And that could look like rehabilitation, psychiatric mental health treatment, and obviously we know that homelessness is just a symptom of a deeply-rooted problem.”

Lomax said the group provided 447 warm beds, 537 hot meals, and permanently housed 13 people when its shelter was open from December to March last winter. Lomax said everyone the organization served last year is now housed except for two people.

“We don’t just bring them in and then send them out,” Lomax said. “We follow them for up to eighteen months to try to make sure that we are providing the proper resources and the things that they need to become what they need to be.”