January 15th, 2009

Helping the Homeless

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Charities to serve people who are homeless abound in most cities. Even mid-sized cities usually have some program. What if your city doesn’t, however? Or what if, like me, you see a void in what others can offer? What do you do?

Start helping on your own!

There’s nothing to say that you can’t begin to offer help on your own. Here are a few ways you can begin providing assistance to people who are homeless.

Buy Blankets and Give Them Out
When winter sets in, people living outdoors face a much tougher time, and some die each year because of the cold. While an indoor shelter is best, a couple of extra blankets really help. Pick up some blankets at local consignment stores – they’re $3 each at mine – and hand them out to people in need. You can set up at your car in most places, and don’t be surprised if people start coming to you asking for the blankets. If the effort goes well, you can enlist others to provide the blankets as well.

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Take Coffee During the Winter Months
Do you know why so many people on the street drink alcohol? It’s warm going down and will warm you up even in harsh weather. You can help with this problem by taking an urn of coffee or hot chocolate into your downtown streets during the winter. Give them out in disposable cups or offer to fill up mugs to those who bring them by.

Put Together a Free Medical Clinic
A church near us has a free medical clinic in its buildings once a month for people who don’t have insurance. Various doctors donate one Saturday a month – or however many they are willing to give up in a year – to providing care to impoverished families and many people who are homeless. Setting this type of clinic up isn’t as difficult as you might imagine. Being talking to local nonprofits or churches that may have space and one or two local doctors to see how you can get a free once-a-month clinic going.

These tasks are one a single family can take on but that can provide a world of difference to people with nowhere to go. Think about giving up some of your TV time to work for the betterment of your community.