COMMENTARY

MILT THOMAS

Yes, words can inspire actions and have done so throughout history, but all too often talking about a problem does nothing to solve it. A prime example of deeds in action was the subject of a luncheon December 10 put on by the Homeless Family Center to honor Richard A. Stark.

We have long recognized that a homeless problem exists in Indian River County, but action to solve it drowned in the sea of praise about our quality of life. Back in 1998, the organization responsible for improving the lives of those least fortunate in our society, the local Coalition for the Homeless, made a presentation to the County Commission for $50,000 of desperately needed funds and was rejected. It was a poor presentation and deserved to be rejected. I happened to be attending that very meeting.

But another two gentlemen attending the meeting were upset with the presentation and decided to do something about it. Those two gentlemen were Richard Stark and Dick Van Mele. Stark was well known in the community as a philanthropist and major contributor to the then Center for the Arts (Vero Beach Museum of Art), Indian River Memorial Hospital (Indian River Medical Center) and Riverside Theater among others.

As Stark tells it, “I wrote a letter to Commissioner Ken Macht and recommended forming a task force to study the homeless issue. Ken agreed and offered to chair it if I would become vice chairman.”

Those words soon became deeds. Under Stark’s leadership, the Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council was formed and is today the primary umbrella group for all homeless-related activities on the Treasure Coast. He and Dick Van Mele also hired Louise Hubbard to head the organization with funding help from the Leonhardt Foundation.

Hubbard has since applied for grants and funds at the state and national level, a total of $22 million. “The most incredible thing about it,” says Stark, “is that even though these funds were readily available, no one in the county had ever asked for any money.”

Was it as case of not wanting to admit such a problem could exist in our community? Regardless, Stark took action because he felt everyone deserves a second chance at the American Dream.

Yes, we still have a homeless problem in Indian River County and probably always will. But after a brutal recession that drove many people into homelessness, we can honestly say the problem is far less severe due to the initiative taken by Richard Stark, changing lives.

If anyone knows about second chances, it is Dick Stark. He survived major heart surgery in 1980, a devastating hit by a New York taxi in 1993, escaped the carnage of 9-11 and a bout with lung cancer just this past year. At age 92, Richard Stark is still actively helping those less fortunate. For all his efforts, on December 10 he was awarded the first annual Hope Through Service Award by the Homeless Family Center.

As to the diversity of his philanthropy and community involvement, Stark says, “It is easy to donate to the hospital, the theater and the museum because we have a vested interest and benefit from those institutions. But I feel compelled to help causes from which we do not directly benefit.”

Those are compelling words, Richard Stark, that have been backed up with life-changing deeds.