Created: 7/9/2009 4:57:47 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The I.M. Sulzbacher Center says its services would be drastically cut if the proposed cuts in funding from the city are made for the coming fiscal year.
The Sulzbacher Center provides meals and shelter to many of Jacksonville's homeless, offering assistance to find work, a place to live, and hope for the future.
"It's devastating!" said Susan Sulzbacher, when asked about the proposed cuts in funding.
It's devastating for many area homeless who rely on the Center for a daily meal at noon.
"It's just the way life is out here. It just not good!" said one Sulzbacher client named Bob. On this Thursday morning, he joins a hundred others waiting in the rain to get what for most will be the only nutrition of the day.
"It may seem that we're having a good time out here because a lot of these people out here are mentally ill and they laugh a lot and they joke and they seem to be happy," said Bob.
"But that's not really the way it is."
The I.M. Sulzbacher Center staff serves more than 1,200 meals each day to guys and gals like Bob, including children. But proposed cuts in City funding will leave many folks hungry -- and out in the cold.
"We already have a waiting list of people we can't serve. And we were hoping to expand beds, not take them away," said Sulzbacher Service Director Nancy Eisele.
The Center predicts the proposed cuts from the city will mean 500 fewer meals served each day, and 25 families with children will not have a place to lay their heads or receive medical care.
"They need to be able to find jobs. They need to find stable housing. They need drug treatment. Whatever their issues are, they absolutely need the services that are provided here," said Susan Sulzbacher.
Services that could dramatically be reduced come October if city dollars are pulled away.
It is a frightening prospect for guys like Bob who are just trying to survive.
"Very very hard for people to survive on these streets without some help!"
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