An unusual awards luncheon: Honoring homeless community for its contributions

ASHEVILLE - Avenue M Restaurant, a place known for its regulars and family atmosphere, was filled wall-to-wall with people from the BeLoved homeless community on Monday afternoon. A live choir serenaded the lunch-goers while volunteers juggled plates full of turkey, hot gravy and mashed potatoes — no plastic wear was allowed.

It was a first for Avenue M owners Teri and Greg Siegel, who hosted the celebration event for over 75 homeless people who have been giving back to Asheville through art, participating in City Council meetings and other creative methods.

In just two weeks, Teri Siegel, Amy Cantrell and Flori Pate — each from different community groups — organized the Sharing Our Gifts Sharing Our Love awards ceremony that gave homeless people the opportunity to be recognized for their gifts and accomplishments.

Cantrell, a core team member of BeLoved, which provides services to homeless people in Buncombe County, said her daily work is focused on helping homeless people find their special qualities and have them share those gifts with others in the community.

By recognizing their gifts during a holiday awards ceremony, she said she hopes it will continue to break the stereotype of what it means to be homeless.

"In the country, 78 percent of Americans are only $500 away from homelessness," Cantrell said. "So I wanted to celebrate how far our homeless community has come and where we're going in the future."

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Teri Siegel felt the urge to give back to the community and immediately turned to her neighbor and friend for help — Pate, executive director of Food Connection, which collects surplus food from restaurants in Asheville and delivers it to the neediest.

Pate knew Cantrell would be interested in hosting a feast for the homeless community she serves, and so the three women came together and organized the lunch.

"It is something I have always wanted to do at our restaurant," Siegel said. "Everyone needs to feel they are important, loved and have a reason to be here on earth."

The awards centered on who in the BeLoved group has really shown leadership qualities and has been working on behalf of the whole community to create change.

Randy Stoudt, 40, was awarded a gift for being one of the inaugural members of the Street Medic Team, which consists of a group of homeless people who went through an EMT training in order to help those suffering on the streets.

For Stoudt, being on the team is like directly serving his family.

"I am homeless myself so this team is important because in this city it is rare for people to think about what happens to us late at night on the streets," Stoudt said. "BeLoved is everything for me and it is a community of love."

Another original member of the street team is Joshua Rosemand, who became homeless last December after losing his business overnight.

He developed a small case of frostbite during his first weekend of sleeping on the street, which led to his interest in becoming certified and joining the team.

"You see older men and women on the street at night and they are someone's grandparents that need to be taken care of," Rosemand said. "A lot of us don't have family outside of BeLoved so we need to take care of each other."

"Eat, drink and gather," the motto of Avenue M, embodied that sentiment as everyone mingled, danced to the live music and showed off their awards.

Cantrell awarded over 20 people for different types of contributions. Tears were shed as well as inside jokes that led to rambunctious laughter and clapping.

"We need to keep standing tall, keep sharing our gifts and keep sharing our love," Cantrell said.