How to Help Homeless Families in Your Communities
This is not the American dream. The harsh reality reported by the National Center on Family Homelessness states that children comprise 60% of the homeless family population. One out of every fifty American children will experience homelessness in their lifetimes. Children in this predicament are four times more likely to be delayed in development and suffer chronic illness. These children have three times the rate of emotional problems and higher rates of obesity. You would eat anything if you were hungry, too. You can help.
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Things You'll Need
- Patience, love, understanding
- One burning desire to share your good fortune with those less fortunate
- Ability to invest yourself in a greater purpose for a greater good
- One leap of faith (optional but it makes the journey easier!)
Instructions
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Seek out organizations in your community that are helping homeless families. There are many not-for-profit organizations with local affiliations where you can make a difference. Family Promise (See References 3 for link), is just one of many non-profits with nearly 150 affiliations across America, and they have received a four-star rating from the Charity Navigator (America's largest charity evaluator). If you cannot locate a chapter in your area that provides shelter and support to homeless families, invest your time and talents into forming one.
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Volunteer at your local soup kitchen. Every town across America has a soup kitchen of some sort. Each day, these kitchens feed the homeless and hungry souls in our midst. Soup kitchens were rooted during the Great Depression (1920's) and since the current economic downturn has devastated families across our great land, the need to feed continues today. Check with your local places of worship; chances are, they are in need of your helping hands.
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Purchase just one extra can of tuna or jar of peanut butter and drop it off at your local food pantry each time you grocery shop. Most food pantries are government-subsidized, but funding is limited. According to Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity, the demand at food banks has increased nationally by 30% in the past year alone, and by as much as 150% in some American communities. A total of 98% of member food banks have said that the increase was due mostly to people seeking emergency food for the first time.
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Donate your used clothing for redistribution. We all have excess clothes that occupy our closets or drawers, and they remain untouched through the seasons. Drop off your gently used clothes at any of the approved centers such as Goodwill Industries (See Resources 2 for link) or the local Salvation Army (See Resources 3 for link), and receive a tax write-off for your goodwill donation.
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Do not stereotype. The face of the homeless in America has changed from the drug-addicted, alcoholic living in an encampment under the bridge. The new face embodies innocence lost on the faces of children, single moms barely able to scrape by, two-parent families who have suffered foreclosure from a job loss forcing them to live in abandoned cars and shelters, even when there is no room at the Inn. They do not need your criticism: They need your love and support.
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Tips & Warnings
Begin with the basics: shelter, food and clothing.
There are also other needs that homeless families require if they are to make the shift back into society. Helping to act as a mentor for job seekers, writing their resumes, sharing support with regard to networking are all vital aspects. Offer to baby-sit while they attend job fairs. The list is endless, as we seek to help the families gain and sustain independence.
Start small. Homelessness in America, in your own community, is an overwhelmingly large concern. It can be a daunting endeavor trying to put a bandage on a severed artery. Remember that every tiny effort you put forth in joining hearts and hands to help, will strengthen the support system required for the homeless to return to a home environment. Just talking about our nation's homeless increases awareness. Where there is awareness, there is concern, and that leads to results.
Seek out like-minded individuals who share your passion for helping the homeless. We all may feel inadequate in our ability to do something, anything, but we need to focus on our strengths and abilities. I am a writer and was able to donate my skills to write articles, editorials and fundraising letters to organizations and individuals to increase awareness. You may enjoy cooking, and there are plenty of opportunities to share your talents in that area. Perhaps you are handy with a hammer; most shelters need fix-it handymen (or women).
Remind yourself that you are just an army of one, so rally some additional warriors to come along side of you to strengthen the attack on homelessness in America. We can win this battle.
Children living in a state of homelessness are four times more likely to have delayed development and chronic illness.
Homeless children have three times the rate of emotional problems and higher rates of obesity.
Most homeless children go hungry at twice the rate of other children.
Eighty percent of children living in homelessness will have been exposed to violence.
Nearly 25 percent of those will have witnessed acts of violence within their own families.
