With food, clothing and fellowship, community comes to Medford to give aid to those less fortunate

The first year Cozmo came to Homeless Day in the Park, he and his wife were living out of a van.

A short time later, the couple found jobs and a home in the Rogue Valley. And for the past seven years, the 44-year-old Ashland musician has volunteered his band’s time to bathe Alba Park in blues.

"You got to know where you came from," Cozmo said. "I was out there dying, too, so I’ll be here every year they have it."

Not just for the homeless, Saturday’s fair drew many of the area’s poor for the free food and beverages, clothes, shoes, bedding, toiletry items and counseling from local agencies. ACCESS, CERV, DASIL, Oregon Action, Salvation Army and Jackson County Housing Authority were among the agencies who set up booths in the park for the eighth annual event.

A member of the Rogue Valley Shelter Development Committee, Marty Mosenthiem was one of those who dreamed up the event designed to make Medford’s homeless feel at home. The formerly homeless 46-year-old said he used to feel like an outcast in Alba Park but had nowhere else to go.

"There’d be a birthday party with a piñata, and I’m over there starving," Mosenthiem said.

No one went hungry Saturday. The park’s homeless dined on hamburgers, hot dogs and cold beverages served at the Salvation Army’s emergency disaster relief trailer.

Medford resident Wilbert Jefferson said he enjoyed his free burger and paper cup of Kool-Aid, but he came to the fair to make contact with the county housing authority.

The 54-year-old rooms in a West Main Street boarding house but is looking for a "step up." Living on veteran’s benefits, the California native stayed at the Veterans Affairs Domiciliary before striking out on his own nine months ago.

"I like it up here; it’s doable up here."

Gospel Mission resident Vince Pino would agree.

After he lost his home in Hornbrook, Calif., Pino wandered Jackson and Josephine counties. The 37-year-old would shuttle between the mission and Salvation Army when his allotted time ran out at either location. But about a month ago, Pino secured an extension to stay on at the mission while working landscaping jobs around Medford.

Balancing a weed-eater on his blue Peugeot bicycle, Pino has pedaled to about 20 jobs in the past month. The license plate hanging from his green Jansport backpack solicits honks from passing motorists. It reads "Smile, God loves you."

Pino keeps a pocket-sized Bible in the Jansport’s front pouch, ready to share a few Psalms with those he meets in his travels.

"I believe I’m a soldier here; I’m a passer-through on this Earth, so I guess I do consider myself to be homeless," Pino said, thumbing the Bible’s pages.

"But I don’t consider myself to be a bum. It’s just by circumstance that I came to this point."

Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail slemon@mailtribune.com.