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M* " I J J 9 i jjfe Jfl * m John Albert Benjamin has been working as a jat think this is a joke, but this aint no joke. I've see or 3-fzjncf ^>hcr|eg> bc^ ppber 14 Garnet & Black, January, 13, 1997 i Bilk HP!! I #;, llk^B ^r i ffflT ^jillliirff J ' - SPm#?1 , > ^111*C^?' 5c -V ? H '' 1^ ; < 4'" \ Sllilil m &$ k' ^ laitf?- ' wSSSSI^S^S^s iP^lfBPji j jUHB^^K? JBP ?.. ' t fit ? |.|HH| Jlj|jl|te j||J|[ w '^Jjjjjjj, llll f f * ''' " "MB < JI ^fe'? * r?5 ' 5 - ?* 1 ' *$**1 WH-" ||jf ^ ii'/or <stf the mission for five years. "There's not much diffe n too many people go down that never thought they'd be , The Oliver Gospel Mil dirty brown brick buildin Columbia's homeless, anc other place. These photog SB a* reaMy g?es on tht pi p a difference?" Shelter of Last Res Gloria Cook speaks in a slow, eve and uncaring, but the voice of a worn all, who is unafraid. Cook is the executive director of Mission and has spent the last ten ye vide shelter and food for Columbia's tion. She sees, every day, the affects c abuse, mental illness and AIDS. SI lence and poverty and hopelessness, ; ing that everyone, no matter wh; /Iocph'PC t"/"\ uv-ov. i v \~o iv vv i iv ipvu. "Would you let someone back into beat you over the head with a basebc dying in a pool of blood with your hi j.. ifatjryri s"ie as^sI I The answer seems obvious, but at Mission answers are rarely simple, question is not fiction. Ml ? _ :re arm to usk Ltaz qutsiLuri, .OTf "We do," says ( under the doctrir :n voice. Not cold matter what their ian who has seen it "They can walk she says. "They c; the Oliver Gospel just lay them dow ars helping to pro- "We're called tl ; homeless popula- Cook graduatt )f drug and alcohol Carolina, at 38, v re deals with vio- resumes to churc ill rhp rimp hplipv- irl m; ;ct-rofnr r\r it their situation, was extended to h thought - mayhe 1 your home if they been here almost ill bat and left you Cook estimates rains spilling out?" help from the Mis cent have alcoho the Oliver Gospel percent have All Her hypothetical overlap, making a "If a person is d Bw , "v ? ' . > ; f^'*- * " :. :S> I N^. * ip^x, * /% #& I St^vl sT^SI v Nx,';% - '^v 4''*"*' '* v v# I I % '?>'" **" -1 **W$d m W"-' % '':'H V -f, '-( _? ... ' <* ??. 9?Br m&W 3 rence between a homeless person am in this place," said Benjamin. jsion stands at the corner o \g that few people look at ti I a source of hope for many raphs and stories are desig - 7 i. L j. L ? xJ f jm Bk 49HHI W.S'^fW m V i anyone else. People ride by and j Assembly and lay lor, a vice. It is a shelter for who can find hope in no ned to give a closer look "Are they really making l!ook, after a brief pause. "We operate \e that everyone deserves shelter, no behavior." in here so drunk they can't stand up," an urinate all over the floor. And we'll n and cover them with a blanket." l _ _i_ _ i_ ^ ? ne sneiier or lasr resort, id from the University of South vith a degree in accounting. She sent hes, expecting to work as a church accountant. But when only one offer ier, from the Oliver Gospel Mission, "I :he lord wants me here. And now I've eleven years." that 65 percent of the people getting sion suffer from mental illness. 75 per1 or crack addictions, and another 50 A nrl in manv riacpc f-hp nrnWpmc * ?iu "i 7 iny kind of treatment difficult, lual diagnosed, they really don't qual