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Coming into work today I couldn’t help but notice a man in desperate search for one of the things that many of us take for granted in our everyday lives. This man was searching desperately up and down the CT Fastrack bus for some food in the trash bin, underneath the seats; in every single nook and cranny he could possibly look in, he did. The amount of desperation I saw upon this individual’s face is one that I do not wish to see upon any human, and that no one should ever have to go through. When I got off of the bus, though, and looked for him to be able to give him some of the lunch that I had packed for the day I couldn’t find him anywhere. It truly breaks my heart to see so many people in need of simple things such as food in this world, and if I had all the money in the world I would just give back to so many people who are in dire need of support and things such as food, shelter, water, medical care, etc. Seeing that look of desperation and not knowing if that man was going to have some food in the near future really got me thinking today. What are we really focusing on nowadays? Thanks for listening/reading.
Luz
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Luz, this is a great topic (as sad as it is).
Working in this field, we come across these situations a lot more often or maybe we notice things differently. Last year around Christmas time, my sister-in-law were driving and saw a man standing outside in the rain with a sign that said “homeless, needs help. God Bless” Some cars in front of us stopped and gave him spare change at the stop light. We made the unanimous decision to invite him in the car and pick up some dinner for him. We heard his story, he is a young veteran who fell through the cracks in services and needed support in nearly everything.
My sister-in-law stopped at a store and purchased some clothing for him – a windbreaker, a belt (he lost so much weight, his pants kept falling down), and lots of socks. We linked him to as many services as we could. Thankfully, she works for 211 and works a lot with the veteran’s hotline and since he was young, I linked him to all of the young adult related services I could offer. We found a place for him to stay that night and have not seen him since.
Many people could have criticized us for taking him in, he could have lied about his story or tried to con us for money. However, he didn’t ask for money, and his story was emotional no matter what.
Recently, my roommate moved out of the house and I found the young man’s sign that he left in the car that rainy night. I won’t forget him because he reminds me of my family, he reminds me of the clients I work with, a neighbor down the road, he reminds me of myself. That could have been me and I would hope someone would be compassionate enough to stop for me too.
People are focusing on elections, our president- elect, deals at stores for Christmas shopping, cancer research, and snapchat filters.
I hope others think about volunteering or donating to their favorite cause. Although I feel every season should be about giving, I hope people think about giving this time of year a little more.
If you don’t feel comfortable donating money to someone you see that is walking the streets homeless, I would certainly recommend donating new pairs of socks – it is the most needed item and it isn’t too expensive.