But homelessness is something the Fort Lauderdale woman fears.

	( Robert Mayer/Staff)
	Fay Osley sits as her twin sons, David ad Daniel, 4, play in front of the Homeless Assistance Center.

      A lot of people are only one paycheck away from being out on the street, says Hardge, an employee with the Broward Sheriffs Office. For most people, if they lose their job theyre going to end up homeless within weeks.

    That fear, as well as compassion for people without a home, on Saturday brought Hardge to an open house for the Broward County Central Homeless Assistance Center/Huizenga Family Campus.

     About 125 people showed up at the 57,000-square-foot shelter, a center supporters think will change the way the community handles the homelessness problem.

    The center, scheduled to open on Feb. 1, will offer educational training, medical care, substance abuse therapy and job assistance for 200 homeless people at a time.

     About 1,000 homeless people can be treated in the center every year.

     My little bit of help will make a difference, says Hardge, who plans to volunteer at the center. Before, I didnt really feel like I could have done anything because it would have been so small.

     Like Hardge, many of the people who toured the $9.4 million building see the center as a place where they can make a difference, a place where they can give their time and money even if its only a couple of hours a month or a few dollars worth of supplies.

     Thats the beauty of the enterprise, says Ezra Krieg, resource development director for the Broward Partnership for the Homeless, the nonprofit group that will operate the shelter.

     If this experiment works, we may have created a new mousetrap, a new way for dealing with many community problems, Krieg said.

     The partnership a coalition of government, business, nonprofit organizations, community groups and individuals provides a unified way of dealing with the countys homeless population of about 5,000 people, Krieg said.