Reading the news about how many hundreds of thousands of Children in the United States are homeless this Christmas, we wondered how we might be able to help while keeping to our own budget.
The first thing you should know is that the term "Homeless" doesn't just mean the people - often mentally ill and filthy - who are actually on the pavement sleeping in doorways at night.
Homeless means that a person does not have a stable legal residence.
It includes families that live in motel or hotel rooms, who sometimes have to leave for a few days and then come back each month. It includes people who are living with or near family, sleeping on floors, in sheds, in unheated garages, and those who go from sofa to sofa belonging to friends and other people one knows. Often those who are renting are carefully monitored by building owners and management so that they do not move people in without putting them on a lease and so they have to sneak or come and go, careful not to spend more than a week at a time.
Many of the homeless children's paretns work for money, if not a living, but cannot make enough to save for deposits into apartments. Others rely on U.S. government for benefits that buy them food and shelter.
There are homeless kids in families who are camping outdoor all year long, sometimes unable to stay in the same school district.
There are homeless kids with one parent in shelters. Some, but few, of these shelters can guarantee that a stay with them will result in housing.
So let's say you are like us and you really cannot open your wallet too wide when it comes to charitable giving. What can you do?
The first thing you can do is volunteer. It's true that free labor has become part of big business. Our local library refuses volunteer help unless a person commits to at least 6 months. (This is probably why they are always hunting for volunteers. In our opinion that is ridiculous!) Generally we are opposed to the free labor of volunteerism because we think it's bad business. We don't like the way so many school districts and even colleges expect it.
But you would be surprised at how many places welcome volunteers for the half a day and even at short notice. They have broken down the tasks they need done for that time into small, doable activities, like serving food or sorting through donated clothing.
The next thing you can do isn't specific to the holidays. You may be able to give art and craft making supplies - fabric and yarn scraps, plastic microwaveable containers that are good for pouring glue on and holding glitter, for instance. (You'll be recycling.) If you think you can read aloud or teach a specific craft, offer to do so for an hour a week or for an afternoon.
Consider dropping of good used clothing that your own children no longer wear to a family shelter or orphanage.
If you'd like to bake a cake or cookies to give away or make a hundred peanut butter sandwiches, call ahead to be sure they can accept them.
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