For Homeless Services, One Size Does Not Fit All
I have read an article I wish I wrote. The fact that it was written in July 2010 detracts from it not at all -- it's still true, still poignant and I ask you to please read it.Mattie Lord has written cogently, with heart, and with awareness.
For Homeless Services, One Size Does Not Fit All
http://www.povertyinsights.org/2010/07/27/for-homeless-services-one-size-does-not-fit-all/#more-2099
Now that you've read it, I'm going to ask you to pass it on.
On top of that, I'm going to ask you to make a connection with your local emergency shelter and donate to them.
Even if all you can donate is a call to their front desk to give them words of gratitude for what they do.
However, if you can donate:
- as a guest chef;
- blankets;
- a large container of earplugs (it's tuff to sleep when other people in the same room as you are snoring, coughing, or any of the other noises we generate when we rest);
- bottled water;
- gently used clothing;
- gently used household items for those in transition to housing;
- time;
- money; or
- inkind
If you can't locate an emergency shelter in your city, let me know. You can leave a comment at the bottom of this post and, I'll do research to find an emergency shelter close to your locale.
As a person who is definitely one of the square pegs trying to be stuffed into a round hole; and as a person who has consistently been screened out, I avidly ask you to spread this to everyone you know.
It'll take you 30 seconds to a minute and a half to put it up on your blog, send out e-mails, or post to your fav social networks with the link and a genuine request to those you know to read it.
Whether you or those you know respond with action for homelessness or another issue near and dear to your heart, you will have helped me fulfill my goal ... to get the word out; to rally people to make a difference in their life and world; and, to be actively listened to.
I urge you to urge those you know to consider a paradigm shift. I cannot tell you how uplifting it was to hear (okay read) another person on the internet use the same term I've been using -- paradigm. It was like finding a kindred soul.