Homelessness.
Many of us think, ” That could never happen to me” or we ignore the homeless. We may know there are homeless people and we often let “The System” take care of them. The nameless faceless masses that fall on hard times. But THEY are other, not us we often think. I can tell you first hand it can happen to us, it does, and it did. They are not others, THEY are US.
2009 – A tough year. As the economy turned in the last quarter of 2008, our interior design business and related work dropped like a rock. Late in our mortgage payments, our home fell into foreclosure. Throughout the year, we burned through unemployment, our savings, our 401k, lost our business, our home and my car.
A painful story for me, I found myself even deeper in depression and without health coverage. I felt like I was spinning out of control. We are blessed with friends and family who have helped in so many ways. Being a proud man I felt embarrassed that I could not support my own family. Me, the guy who takes care of everyone around me, now reduced to accepting whatever I could for work , for food, for a warm place to sleep. Yes, I found myself homeless. Yes, it does happen to us.
I am fortunate to have a safety net of friends, family and skillset that tells me this situation will not last. But what of those who don’t? Will we forget them, or leave “The System” to take care of them? Or are we called to a higher purpose? Will we ignore “them” or reach out a hand to help them up?
In December, 12for12k is running events and drives for the homeless all over the world, from Australia, to the UK, Canada and the USA. In Connecticut we are hosting a drive to bring much-needed goods and cash to support the work of the St Vincent DePaul Place in Middletown, CT in their efforts in helping the homeless. The time and place is Thursday December 17th at the Hitching Post in Durham, CT. Cash donations can be made here or via the ChipIn widget on this page.
Thank you for your support and hope to see you there!
