We were delighted to have the Reverend Michael Chaney, affectionately known by many in our community as Padre Chaney, back with us today. Before he spoke on ministering to the homeless population in Savannah, President Andrew Cosey reminded everyone of the RCSE Annual Oyster Roast which is scheduled for February 24th and also announced a service opportunity with PACK on Thursday, February 15th. Once all Rotary business items were discussed, Kim Campbell introduced Padre Chaney.
Padre Chaney has been working with the homeless community for 35 years. He says that homelessness can't always be contributed to bad decision making as there are many reasons someone becomes homeless. He showed us a map of the homeless camps around Savannah and how they have changed over the years. Each homeless camp is self governed/operated and has their own personality. Homeless people don't always live in camps but can live in motels and cars as well. He says that the bottom line is that people can't afford housing and the solution to homelessness needs to be more access to affordable housing.
Padre Chaney started ministering to the homeless camps in Savannah over 17 years ago. It started with Camp #2 which came to be known as the Community of St. Joseph. The ministry began with offering breakfast and then eventually a service was added. He created relationships within camp, earned the trust of those living there, and was then able to help some of the individuals find housing. He said what works is listening to people, using their name and acknowledging their presence, establishing relationships, and communicating with other resources in the community to provide aid.