VOLUME 4 ISSUE 35
$2
SEPTEMBER 1 - SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
Help for homeless veterans
Pg B3
Appleton Museum of Art Fall Classes
Idalia’s aftermath
MCFR, OFR respond to call for recovery help in Big Bend By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
T
The Ocala Grant Per Diem program, through Volunteers of America, provides clinical treatment, transitional housing and case management services.
he Florida Search and Rescue Task Force 8, which includes two Marion County agencies, will respond to aid search and rescue efforts in the Big Bend region of Florida where Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday, according to Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR). Hurricane Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane around 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday near Keaton Beach, 74 miles southeast of Tallahassee on the Gulf Coast of Florida. MCFR, Ocala Fire Rescue and Gainesville Fire Rescue all make up Task Force 8. The team specializes in urban search and rescue efforts, according to the Marion County website. MCFR and OFR both confirmed the agencies’ involvement in the task force on Wednesday. “Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8 is
Army veteran Elbert Mills poses in front of the Ritz Historic Inn on Aug. 29, 2023. [Andy Fillmore]
By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
Top to bottom: Dark clouds from Hurricane Idalia surround the Ocala water tower in Ocala on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] Members of Marion County Fire Rescue, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Ocala Fire Rescue, Ocala Police Department and Gainesville Fire Rescue responded to the Fort Myers/Port Charlotte area to assist in recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian as part of Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8. [Courtesy of Marion County]. Lucas Lehman of A&L Tree Service, right, cuts up a large tree that came down in the yard of a home with Walter Eason, left, on Southeast 8th Street near the intersection of Southeast 13th Avenue after Hurricane Idalia on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]
G
ale Henderson served active duty in the U.S. Army from 1979 to 1982 and several years in reserve duty. He worked in golf course maintenance until he suffered from congestive heart failure. “I kept getting tired easily,” said Henderson, 60. He had heart valve replacement surgery in September 2022 and his world began to unwind. Henderson ultimately had to stop working and said he made some bad financial decisions on his homestead. He said that after family members and friends failed to step up to help, he found himself on the street. “About three months ago, I was at a park in northeast Ocala, and I broke down in tears,” he said. Henderson said he was always a hard worker and was usually the helper, not the one needing help. He tried to return to work after the valve replacement but was too weak. He was told to try the Salvation Army for help. He was immediately taken in and later was contacted by a representative of Volunteers of America, the nonprofit that offers the Grant Per Diem, or GPD, program for veterans like Henderson at the Ritz Historic Inn, an Ocala landmark on East Silver Springs Boulevard. “The Ocala GPD program provides clinical treatment, transitional housing, and case management services to homeless veterans,” according to voaflorida.org. “(The program is) assisting veterans in identifying personal goals relating to education, employment, health, entitled benefits, spirituality, See Veterans, page A2
deploying to the Big Bend area. They are linking up with other Florida USAR Task Forces to conduct primary, secondary searches and water rescues of the affected areas,” said MCFR spokesperson James Lucas via email. Task Force 8 played a role in search and rescue efforts following the catastrophic damage to southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian made landfall in September of last year. Other Marion County agencies could not yet confirm their involvement in hurricane relief efforts, whether as part of the task force or independently, as of Wednesday. “We have teams in place ready to respond if called on. As of now we have not been requested,” said Marion County Sheriff ’s Office spokesperson Lt. Paul Bloom via email. A spokesperson from OPD also could not offer any information on the matter as of Wednesday.
It’s all about Neighbors Helping Neighbors Started with a dream and some key “do-ers,” the modest Pine Run neighborhood helps its own with free food distributions, a handy helper service, delivered meals and a social services resource center. By Belea T. Keeney belea@magnoliamediaco.com
I
t began with a dream. Literally. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Marion County in 2020 and dragged on through 2021, Pine Run resident Darrell Olivier saw isolation and fear decimating his neighborhood during that time. “The situation with the pandemic,” Olivier said, “these older people lost hope. We had a lot of shut-ins, people weren’t going out. They got used to that. It was a mess in our little community then.” Olivier woke one night in the summer of 2021 with a compelling thought: Feed your neighbors. “I think we’re supposed to feed people here in Pine Run,” Nancy Olivier, Darrell’s wife, said when she heard of her
husband’s vision “to feed our community.” Darrell Olivier agreed it was time to take positive steps, “and we knew that this (food pantry) would get people out,” he said. And so began the Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) programs. Pine Run is a gated 55+ community of modest singlestory homes, mostly on small, well-kept lots, many with simple carports and screened Florida rooms. The residents are retirees, often from northern workforces: postal workers, truck drivers, retired military and teachers. The community is on Southwest State Road 200, not far from the Super Walmart that anchors that shopping area. Homes there were built from 1981-89, and most are less than 1,200 square feet. It has See Pine Run, page A4
Darrell Olivier, the coordinator of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, right, and volunteer James Strait, left, look over meat to be given away to people who need it the most during the Neighbors Helping Neighbors food giveaway in the clubhouse at Pine Run on State Road 200 in Ocala on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.
READ DAILY NEWS AT OCALAGAZETTE.COM
INSIDE:
Community Foundation.............. A3 State News...................................... A6 Six Gun Territory Memories...... B1 Calendar......................................... B5 Sports.............................................. B9
Subscribers will receive their paper through USPS on the USPS schedule. Subscription orders must be received by 5 pm on Tuesday in order to be included in the following week’s delivery. Starting at $10/month ocalagazette.com/subscribe