As Doug Throm tried to find the words to thank the Shelter volunteers who fed him off and on for five years, he paused nervously. Desperately fidgeting with his prepared text, he looked over the dais and across the 60 or so Shelter volunteers gathered in the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church. Deciding to speak from the heart, he ripped his glasses off and stared out into the audience.

"If it wasn't for Mel and the staff and the volunteers of The Shelter, I don't know where I'd be," said the Texas native who was abandoned by his parents at the age of 7. "I've been in and out of shelters and mental institutions and with your help, I've now got my own place and paying my own way through life."

Doug Throm no longer lives in the Shelter, but he returns often to help others achieve the success he has won for himself. That spirit of selfless volunteerism has fed, medicated, advised, and listened to more than 20,000 guests during the decade of The Shelter's service to the community.

Homelessness in Tallahassee is a very real problem. The Shelter's executive director Mel Eby estimates that approximately 78 percent of the local homeless population is from the Tallahassee area, and about 66 percent are experiencing homelessness for the first time. About 40 percent struggle with some form of mental illness.

"The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill in the late '60s, the use of psychotic drugs, and reduced state funding cast many of these people to the streets," according to the nonprofit group's Web site. "Many of the residents at The Shelter are mentally ill and literally have no where else to go."

As The Shelter's board members, staff and volunteers gathered last week to recognize longtime volunteers, former County Commissioner Gary Yordon spoke of the importance of caring communities.

"We've moved from our front porches to our back porches, and nobody knows their neighbors anymore," he said. "We've kind of lost our soul as a community by design. When it comes to the least among us, we really are falling short."

Yordon took the opportunity to advocate a regularly appearing line item in the city's budget for The Shelter and a proposal to build four neighborhood clinics where uninsured Tallahasseeans could receive both preventative and reactive medical care.

"We have a real opportunity here," he told Shelter volunteers. "If we do this, we may be the only county in the country to successfully address the health care crisis that prevents uninsured people from receiving care."

As the politicians carefully parsed the details of ad valorem taxes and budget line items, Doug Throm listened carefully. Since his days on the streets of Tallahassee, he has taken on a new role as an advocate for the homeless, often showing up for board meetings and volunteering his own time to feed the nightly guests at The Shelter.

"Now, I'm giving something back," said the former homeless man. "Because without the help of The Shelter, Catholic Social Services and the Center for Independent Living, I would still be homeless."