Get Involved

As Thanksgiving approaches people begin to think beyond themselves and start noticing all that they have. We become thankful for all that God has added to our lives. As we begin to reflect on our blessings, the realization that others may not have it so good creeps in. We begin to feel for those who are less fortunate and our heart begins to move us to take action.

What kind of action needs to be taken? How can I get involved with those who are less fortunate? These questions and more are some of the questions we will ask ourselves. These questions are asked of me very often as I work every day with the homeless.

As many of you know, I love doing City Walks. When I finish most city walks people are usually asking lots of questions about how they can get involved. As a result I decided to develop a list of ways people can engage in the homeless cause. Knowing that the holidays are coming and people will be looking for ways to get involved, I decided to publish this list. Hardly does this list have all the ways you can get involved but it should be a good place to start. Take a look and get involved.

• Volunteer at Safehouse Outreach or one of the many other organizations designed to help the homeless
• Contribute financially to a homeless organization
• Organize a winter items drive and donate the items to a homeless organization
• Contact you city’s officials about the issue
• Find ways to get involved in preventing homelessness i.e. mentoring a at risk child or help a needy family
• Take action to increase awareness
• Add links to your blog, facebook, myspace, etc… to a homeless organization
• Join a homeless organization’s facebook cause or group.
• Start a blog about homelessness in your area
• Do a benefit concert or art show that the proceeds go to a homeless organization
• Buy a meal for a homeless person
• Get familiar with resources for homeless people in your area. United Way has a lot of resources to help
• Specific to Atlanta Homelessness: Check out the Regional Commission on Homelessness website. It gives the city’s response to helping the homeless.
• Google “Homeless” and your city’s name to see what comes up
• Visit local media websites and search for up to date articles concerning homelessness in your area
• Take others to or host a showing of “My Concrete Mattress”Make a documentary on homelessness in your area
• Mentor a homeless person once a week
• Say, “hello” to homeless people you may encounter

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and you all find a way to give back to someone less fortunate than yourself.