by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
For seven years, Transformations has been an opportunity to show how peoples lives have changed since living at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless.
Next Thursday, the Sulzbacher Center’s annual Transformations event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a reception along Forsyth Street in front of the Florida Theatre. Following the reception, guests will tell their stories.
Transformations is the center’s largest fund-raiser of the year, along with the holiday card campaign, accounting for 11 percent of their yearly budget.
“The guests will be sharing their stories with the audience, and telling them about the wide range of causes of homelessness,” said Sherry Burns, president and CEO of the Sulzbacher Center and former general manager at Ch. 4. “It can happen to families, people who have worked for 25 years, presidents of banks ... it can happen to anybody.”
Transformations is designed to show people that even if the worst happens, there is good that can come out of it. Burns said two of the guests who will tell their stories were children when they lived at the center and now they are grown men, making a living.
“It is about transforming lives, not just the guests, but everyone that is there,” she said. “It makes you appreciate what a good life we all have.”
Jordan Boss, chief development officer, said Transformations helps take away the stereotype people have about homeless people.
“The center has an opportunity to introduce these folks to the public who have overcome obstacles and it shows the strength of the human spirit,” said Boss. “They are just like us.”
There will be about a dozen stories told from people who have gone through the center and have been out on their own for more than a year. In the past, the event was held at the Times-Union Center, but for the first time it will be held at the Florida Theatre. At noon on Thursday, Forsyth Street will be closed from Newnan Street to Ocean Street to hold their reception that the center will cater themselves, said Boss.
“We guarantee you will feel so good about your fellow man,” said Burns. “It is an uplifting event and a great feel-good evening.”
Patron tickets are $100 — $75 of that is tax deductible — and they include reserved seating and admission to the reception. General admission tickets are $25.
The Sulzbacher Center has been in existence for 10 years. They provide people a temporary home, not just a hot meal and a cot, said Burns. Each person that goes through the center goes through case management to determine how and why they got there. They also have a health and dental clinic, and they are currently building new facilities for both at their location on East Adams Street. The center also provides help with finding a source of income through jobs. If a guest can’t work, the center starts connecting them to benefits.
“Our goal is to get them a steady income to help them get their own housing,” said Burns. “However long the process takes is how long they are there.”
They center has 304 beds, but there are usually about 340 people staying on any given night. Burns said they serve on average 1,000 meals a day, 365 days a year with a kitchen staff of three, but it is the 6,000 volunteers that help donate food, cook and serve the people staying at the shelter.
“The volunteers are a huge part of our success,” said Burns. “If we didn’t have volunteers we couldn’t serve as many people.”
There are also volunteers to work with kids as well as volunteer doctors and dentists.
The center provides housing and support to homeless men, women and children until they get back on their feet.
“We do everything we can to make this a dignified experience,” said Burns. “It is a hard time in their life, so we try to make it as painless as possible.”