A perfect storm put Anna Hatfield and Gary Pinckney on the streets.
The couple moved out of the old Crossroads Motel earlier this month when they were unable to afford the higher rates asked by the motel’s new owners.
While it’s not known where everybody went — at least 10 were displaced, another former long-term resident said — Hatfield’s and Pinckney’s plight became public when they were spotted camping in a small tent along South State Street.
In response, a group of Iolans worked feverishly to find them a permanent home. Trouble is, one potential house fell through because of its decrepit condition, the Rev. Paul Miller told the Register Tuesday. Meanwhile, they are staying in an empty building that formerly housed an office. It has electricity and running water, but no shower or bath, Miller noted.
Other factors also are in play:
— Because both are newcomers to Iola, having lived in town for just a few weeks, neither has many friends to ask for help. They’ve known each other only a few months.
— They adopted a small dog shortly before moving away from Crossroads, and have said they’d likely eschew a permanent home if they cannot keep Sophie.
“A lot of people are thinking, ‘Come on. They’ve only known each other a couple of months. They’ve only had the dog a couple of weeks,’” Miller said. “But if you’ve gone through what they’ve gone through, that dog becomes very important.”
FINDING WAYS to serve the impoverished in Iola and Allen County is easier said than done, Miller noted.
“There are a lot of people scrambling,” he said. “What do we do? What can we do?”
As Miller properly notes, the motel’s new owners — it’s now called the Regency Inn — should be supported in their efforts to upgrade a business that had fallen to a state of disprepair, both in physical condition, and in the eyes of many local residents by sheltering some who otherwise could not afford to rent or own a home.
“But this also exposed to us that we have several people in town living on the edge,” Miller said.
The immediate concerns are providing shelter and food for those who cannot find homes, Miller said, and doing so with limited resources.
Miller is pastor at First Assembly of God Church and president of the Iola Area Ministerial Association, a collection of local clergy who band together and pool their resources. The IAMA oversees the Iola Community Pantry.
At least a dozen or so other churches offer charity outside the Ministerial Association as well
But while churches have always been willing to do what they can to help, there are limitations.
