Holiday season especially busy helping the needy

By ANGELICA A. MORRISON
Observer-Dispatch
amorrison@uticaod.com

UTICA — On most days during the week at about 10:45 a.m., a group of people gather on the porch of 130 Eagle St.
The diverse group — which includes children, single men and women, refugees and even the elderly — waits for the doors of Hope House to open for the first meal of the day, breakfast.
The holiday season is a busy time of year for the Hope House. In addition to offering three meals a day, the organization provides support services, toiletries giveaways and Christmas gift bags for the area’s homeless and low-income population.
“I think if I was going to put one thing in common among all these people, is that they’re poor,” said John ‘Sandy’ MacLean, president of the board of directors for the Hope House. “When you get down and out for any reason, it’s very difficult to get back up.”
The percentage of Oneida County’s population in poverty is 13.6 percent, according to U.S. Census figures. Also, the number of people younger than 18 in Oneida County living below the poverty level is 19.9 percent.

‘One wrong move’
Brian Slaughter, 39, said all it took was “one wrong move,” and he was homeless.
“A lot of bad things happen in a short amount of time,” he said.
Slaughter, who was homeless a few years ago, wouldn’t go into detail about the “bad things,” but he did say being homeless was a learning experience.
“It taught me to be a little more tolerable for other people in the same position,” he said. “All it takes is one wrong move, and I can be there again.”
Since his experience, the Hope House has been his refuge.
While he was homeless, the staff allowed him to use the Hope House as an address so he could receive mail, he said.
He said he also occasionally goes to the Hope House for meals.
“I’ve come here for many, many reasons in the past,” he said. “I’ve gotten all the help I’ve needed.”

Giving back to Hope House
Single mother Starr Tuttle went from bringing her children to the Hope House for meals to becoming an employee there.
Tuttle, 43, has been at the Hope House as a customer, volunteer, and now worker for more than 15 years.
She is a mother of four – three in their 20s, and one who is 18. While raising her children, she often depended on social services to help make ends meet.
“We always had to do without,” she said.
Tuttle said she chose not to work for much of her children’s childhood because of the cost of day care.
“I always wanted to stay home with them, and back then it would take more money to pay a baby sitter than I would make,” she said.
Tuttle now washes dishes and does other jobs for the Hope House.
“I love it here,” she said. “I’ve always said if I win the lottery that I’ll come and cook for these guys.”

It started with knee pain
It started with knee pain, and then Joe Yagoda’s life started to unravel.
Yagoda, 51, of Utica, graduated from Utica College in 1990 and attended various other colleges.
He was in the work force before his struggles led him to the Hope House.
In 1999, while he was working as a teacher’s assistant for the Utica City School District, he was diagnosed with a back and spinal condition that caused him to become disabled.
“I also worked full-time while going to school,” he said. “I had my life in my hands.”
He then had nine back surgeries and is currently on social services disability.
When describing his life then and now he said it’s filled with “many challenges.”