54 Ways You Can Help The Homeless - Overview

Introduction

I have, however, spent long restless evenings sleeping with homeless men, women, and children at our Temple's shelter (a school by day). Time after time, I found myself waking, flooded by the sadness that decent people were sleeping in our classrooms, all their remaining possessions crammed into shopping bags.

The world of the homeless is very far from mine -- but in some ways it is quite near. For any of us, the loss of a job, the death of a spouse or a child, a severe physical disability, family problems, could be the route to total despair. These are the very tragedies that have happened to many homeless people. Struck by personal tragedies, the people in our shelter and in thousands of others accross America, have lost their homes and been deserted by the families and friends they once had.

But we have another choice: to be strengthened. Like any other problem, we can choose whether we will allow ourselves to be defeated by it or if we will emerge stronger for seeking solutions and offering a helping hand.

This is the time we ask, "What can I do?"

This is the time we tap our hidden resources and strengths.

This is the time we turn to other people, to the community, to religion for strength, guidance, and assistance.

If you have never witnessed the despair of the homeless first hand, it is easier to ignore them, and abandon them. Even to assume that homeless people are all derelicts, mentally ill, drug addicts -- people beyond help, people who don't deserve assistance.

As you will learn in this book, there are miracles that have been accomplished for displaced people -- and by homeless people who are able to put their broken lives back together. I marvel at the resiliency and the potential we all have, including the hundreds of thousands who will spend tonight in a shelter, on the streets, or living in an abandoned car.

What can you do, personally, to help them? Sometimes the smallest gesture -- and a good attitude -- can go a long way. You can start by reading on.

-Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff

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