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| January 18, 2011 - the day before our fire |
I watch giant snowflakes fall outside my window and it makes me think of two things: being warm and cozy in my house and wondering how those survive who are homeless and hungry and never have that feeling of cozy security. And the second thing - I can understand their uncertainty on such a small level. This past Saturday was two years since our house fire. On that night, "snow globe" flakes fell - so peaceful. So much snow on the ground that school for the next day had already been cancelled. I tucked in my children, William already sleeping, and made sure their blankets were pulled up tight. They were sweet and innocent with their stuffy fluffy friends, so excited to stay home from school the next day. I went downstairs feeling so fortunate to have this warm space, only worried that Bart's flight home the next evening would be canceled. And then 15 minutes later, our warm space became the enemy and as the fire raged inside, I did not hesitate to take my children out in the snow, in their pajamas and with no coats or shoes. But here is the big difference - I had a car I could put them in, and friends who would take them in and shield them from the many fire trucks and billowing flames, and neighbors who would pack their own coats and clothes for us to wear, and the Red Cross who gave us soap and blankets and toothbrushes, and in-laws who drove in a snowstorm to take us to their house and more neighbors who stayed through the night long after we were gone to supervise our house being boarded up. And it makes me think - who do the homeless have? Who do the poor have? And then I remember what I have heard a thousand times at church - they have us. My church delivers food to the homeless two days a week and provides containers for parishioners to make and freeze food. Today, I filled a few containers and will continue to do so. It truly felt like the most productive way to spend my day. How can you help the homeless and poor? Let me know what ideas you have!
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Julie, I love this post!
ReplyDeleteIn my job as a Pre-K teacher, all of my students must qualify for the program, by either income, home language, or deployed military. The meals are provided by the school, but we keep a stash of clothing and coats in our classroom. Coats often get left at grandmas, or cousins wear them home...not a problem, we have spares, ...usually from last year's lost and found that were never claimed. For the little ones who fall in the mud on the playground, or who don't quite make it to the bathroom in time, we have a change of clothes if there is not one in their backpack, (and there usually isn't.) Everything is done very low key, we do not make a big deal if someome needs something, it is simply there for the children.
How about a blanket drive? Have kiddos collect blankets and then deliver on cold evenings to people on the street downtown. I think I'm gonna do it! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteBTW, I do love your blog, it always puts a smile on my face, inspires me, and makes me happy. I have put a lot of time and thought in how to respond to this as I have decided a long time ago ( from my internship after working with) to devote a part time of my career to working with the homeless, but a special population of them, those who are also with special needs, who are mentally ill and who are also homeless because of addictions, a lifetime of neglect, working to prevent recidivism. So my answer to you is this -- because I'm in a special situation because I'm in a center where I know of what goes on behind the scenes, there is yes, a lot of support in the system where they get help and funding, housing, food stamps, housing, community support, lots of food, my suggestion to you is do you have a network around you of other stay at home mothers and friends who also are also interested in helping out? Its great if you do. Depending on what and how much you are willing to do, in my professional opinion, the best way to help out, is to get involved in an organization, this does not need to take a lot of time, but didn't you major in political science(?), is to help in a nonprofit organization which helps in promoting, advocating for homeless needs, call them and see what you can do, even from home (explain you have 3 older kids and a newborn), can you do calls to politicians/locals/spread awareness, can you get petitions signed? can you make flyers? can you blog about what homeless people go through? Can you do mailers? copies? Who knows what they may need? Even if you just helped out 1 hour every couple of months or year would make a huge difference!!!
Just think of it a ripple effect - starting good thoughts, spreading awareness, spreading the word, and more and more people being aware, we need to value their lives, not hiding the problem, it won't go away!
Melania