I would like to share an inspirational quote by Edward Everett Hale, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” Over the last year, these words have encouraged me to reflect on what I can do to help others. Last year, I noticed many homeless people outside of stores, on the side of the road, near traffic lights, and throughout my community and surrounding area. One day, while I was with my family outside of Wal-Mart, we were approached by a homeless woman and her two children. She asked us for money so she could clothe and feed her children. The image of this woman and her children stayed with me for a while. I went home and did some research …show more content…
It consisted of collecting new socks and distributing them to adults, teens, and children in nearby communities. Why socks? Socks are the most needed item and the least donated item at homeless shelters. Many local homeless people, teen runaways, school children, and families can’t afford socks or they wear tattered old socks. A homeless person typically walks a great deal which exposes them to the risk of serious foot disease, especially during the cold winter months. Sidney Falken, the chief branding officer for HanesBrands, stated, “access to something as basic as a clean, dry pair of socks can literally save lives within our country’s homeless population.” I did research and contacted local ministries and charities to see if they wanted to get involved in my project. I decided to work with the Closet Ministry in Monroe, NC. The Closet Ministry collects donations and sets up a shop every Saturday, where anyone in the community can come in and take what they need: clothing, shoes, socks, personal hygiene items, and more. I organized a team of friends and family members to create my vision. Mary, their lead volunteer, told me a story about a homeless man who came in looking for a pair of
Kenyon, Thomas. L. What you can do to help the homeless. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1991. Print.
Most individuals would suggest creating a homeless shelter, but that solution is unrealistic due to budgets, and the lack of funds from the community and Calvary Chapel. The cost of these solutions is reasonable and within reach. The solution will provide jobs and offer a sense of self-esteem most homeless have lost. The homeless as well as the community will thrive from this program and lives will be changed. Individuals, who were stuck on the street cold and alone, will be given the opportunity to go out and make a change in their lives. Although, many might suggest that many homeless are ex drug addicts or alcoholics, there are many who do not have the financial stability to survive and live a life of normality but will do what it takes to change their situation. Hess suggests that, “What many people need is an opportunity to get back on their feet and develop their own income” (Feuer, 2012, para.15). My solution offers this opportunity and by implementing it, homeless will have the power to change their
Most people feel that they should help the needy in some way or another. The problem is how to help them. This problem generally arises when there is a person sitting on the side of the road in battered clothes with a cardboard sign asking for some form of help, almost always in the form of money. Yet something makes the giver uneasy. What will they do with this money? Do they need this money? Will it really help them? The truth of the matter is, it won't. However, there are things that can be done to help the needy. Giving money to a reliable foundation will help the helpless, something that transferring money from a pocket to a man's tin can will never do.
I heard a blood-curdling scream and I jumped. I felt silent tears running down my heavily scarred face, but they weren’t out of sadness. Mostly. They were a mixture of pain and fear. I ran into the eerie, blood-splattered room and screamed as I felt cold fingers grab my neck. Before that night, I didn’t believe in the paranormal. Now I sure as heck do. I had been chased out of my house after a fight with my step-parents because I wasn’t doing well in school (I had dyslexia), and I had taken shelter in what seemed like a normal house. I realized what I had gotten into after the sun set. The doors locked without a sign of anyone going near them. A cold draft filled the room I was in. The house turned into a horrific scene, and I knew I would never get out alive. It was the Asylum. There’s a rumor in our town, a rumor that started when someone made the observation that everyone fit in. No one was considered strange, homeless, an outsider. That doesn’t seem possible, you think. In my town, there are tons of people with no homes, or people that don’t belong, you think. Well, think again. Those homeless people? Think about how many there are. They fit in with each other. Those people that don’t belong? Once again, they fit in with each other. But then, you
Homelessness can happen to anyone unexpectedly. Many poor people are at the risk of homelessness. The cost of living and trying to find affordable housing can be very difficult. Many who are homeless are in poverty, have a mental illness, or addictions. Homelessness happens from personal, as well as structural factors. Many aren’t able to make enough for rent, as well as, utilities, food, and other expenses each month. More than 6 million Americans pay more than half of their income towards rent (Reamer, 1989). The trend is once someone becomes homeless, it is likely they will be homeless repeatedly. To end homelessness, affordable housing will have to be created because it is peoples largest single expenditure (Anderson, 2013).
Homelessness is an increasing problem in many cities today. More and more people litter street corners with cardboard signs begging for spare change. Numerous research and studies have been conducted as to how these unfortunate people have become homeless, but more importantly, ways to permanently help their situations. Both Derek Thompson’s article “Should you give money to homeless people?” and Bobby Magill’s article “Grand Junction comes to terms with homeless” claim that a substantial gift of direction and support instead of loose change will create the greatest, lasting impact in the homeless’ lives. Although both authors successfully use rhetorical strategies to make their arguments, Bobby Magill’s
Statistically, over 670,000 Americans are homeless with a growing number. 48 million people go to bed hungry every night. Although we do provide shelters and opportunities in America, millions of people are homeless worldwide. Even on a more minor level there are still hundreds homeless within hometowns. Everyday we encounter the homeless whether by seeing them holding their personal signs at stoplights, confronts with beggars, or viewing them from afar under bridges. In her essay titled “On Compassion”, writer Barbara Ascher uses rhetorical techniques detailing some of her personal homeless experiences within the city life, Asher does effectively use logos, pathos,
It is logical that there are numerous health, nutritional, developmental, and psychological problems that are associated with being homeless as a youth. Health problems start even before birth if a mother is homeless and pregnant then her baby is more likely to be born with a lower birth weight than compared to normal children (Rafferty, Y., & Shinn, M., 1991). Children who are born into homelessness have higher death rates (1991). This could be due to the lack of prenatal care for homeless pregnant women. Furthermore, homeless children are more likely to have “upper respiratory infections, minor skin ailments ear disorders chronic physical disorders and gastrointestinal disorders” (Rafferty, Y., & Shinn,
We’ve all heard the phrase “Charity begins at home.” This statement holds very true in my case, not because we needed help but rather because we were taught at an early age to provide help whenever possible. In our current economy there are many people not just in our community but throughout the world and beyond that are struggling. I was fortunate to grow up in a household with two loving parents who shared the importance of fundamental beliefs and values. Cynthia Street, the street I grew up on, was a comfortable middle class neighborhood that served as my first perspective of American life. Through my experiences in my neighborhood and also my interaction with my church family at Central Christian Church in Newark, I learned the importance of outreach work.
When people are in need you want to help them but you don’t know how. If you see a homeless person asking for money and food, buy the something to eat and when you give the the food give them some money while you're at it.
Whether it be mentoring, helping the homeless, giving blood, holding a charity event or helping support those in need. No matter what the type of work you do is, it matters as long as it helps the community become a better place. The act of kindness that you perform today can save a life tomorrow. Every person isn’t born with ethical thoughts, or thoughts at all but they learn them as they grow. For example, if you see your parents or someone that you admire do good things such as giving back, and help people who need it or just doing right by the religion that they follow, then there is a split chance, that you will follow in those same exact footsteps and fill them just as well as you were taught. Not saying you have to go out of your way to give money to help someone pay for groceries and do things for the less fortunate, but put yourself in their shoes. What would life be like from the other side? Could you still have everything you have now? Everybody can’t be financially stable all the time and you never know when the tables could turn and you can be in their place. It doesn 't take much time to make a difference in your community or any community rather. Give what you can and be that change you want to see in others. We have to learn to work together, rather than despising one another or not getting along with each other for no reason logical. “Two minds are greater than one”. If we stop working against each other and start
“Sometimes it 's easy to walk by because we know we can 't change someone 's whole life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to realize it that simple kindness can go a long way toward encouraging someone who is stuck in a desolate place.” ~ Mike Yankoski
I went to the grocery store and got cases of water, bags of bread, and stuff to make the sandwiches. I had finished preparing the bags and each had granola bars, fruit, ham and cheese sandwiches, water, toothpaste, and other hygiene products. My dad and I had arrived outside the homeless shelter and were ready to pass the bags out as we saw the swarm of people. Hundreds maybe even thousands of people gathered sitting in what little shade there was. I knew we had a homeless problem, but not to this extent and the bags I had made were going to make little to no difference on the vast amount of people that had been sitting outside. I was a little disappointed at first to be completely honest because I was not prepared for that many people. If I would have known there would have been so many people I would have made more bags. We drove around the block planning on what we were going to do and saw some tents set up. My dad and I were curious as to what they were, so we got out the car and saw that these people had been giving people food and I walked up to them and asked if there was any way I could help them. These people in the tents were actually an organization called Open Arms Outreach and a few girls scouts. They gladly let us help and we brought a few cases of water and the bags I had made and helped pass them out. The organization Open Arms Outreach
Homeless is a provisional condition that individuals fall into when they can't stand to pay for a spot to live, or when their present home is dangerous or unsteady. Different variables, for example, work misfortune, physical and mental disability, different hardships including individual, and substance abuse can pussed people's slide into destitution, and for some, inevitable homeless, particularly without legitimate social administrations. The absence of lodging, access to social insurance, and strong administrations, then go about as others hindrances that keep people from moving into homefullnesss.
For instance, it was an extremely sunny day in Ghana, West Africa, and I had gone out to the well to fetch water. It was while carrying the bucket of water on my way back that I noticed my neighbor’s children fighting over the insufficient amount of food that they had to share. My family and I were not rich but from what I saw, I knew that we were better off than other people I knew. I carried the bucket of water inside the house and came back outside to call the two youngest children that were fighting over the last grain of food. I shared my food my food with them and though it was not sufficient for all, feeding the younger ones alone was better than not helping any one of them at all. There was only little that I could possibly do but by sharing, I had helped them in a great way, even if it was just for the time being.