HOW CAN I HELP THE HOMELESS?

"Let me count the ways...."

• We can always use food, especially since the city is trying to close down our food lines. Perhaps your school class, religious group or social organization might be able to help provide some food for the homeless. If so, please contact any of our sponsors (listed on our 'home' page) to find out how you can do this legally....
  
  
• We always need clothing*, blankets and bedding*, shoes*, ponchos and raincoats*! Have you ever considered that your old, out-of-style wristwatch* might help a homeless person show up on time for a meal or an important appointment? And, believe it or not, even small things like safety pins*, paperclips*, and rubber bands* come in handy! Envelopes* of all sizes are needed for keeping personal letters, records, and forms together and protected from the elements, as well as being useful when communicating with government agencies and prospective employers.
  
  
• Most of all, we need your moral support and good will. Many of us are disabled and face physical and emotional obstacles that keep us from working to support ourselves, even if there were jobs available. Some, though not as many as you may think, are infected with the disease of alcoholism. Some of us are out here because the company for whom we loyally worked for years suddenly 'downsized' us out of a job, or the rent we were paying went 'through the roof'. Your understanding and kindnesses toward us are always real morale-boosters. Please continue to treat us as individuals, not as just a gaggle of outcasts.

  If you can donate* some food, clothes, or other items, please contact any of our sponsors listed on our 'home' page. If you've got anything that needs to be picked up, we'll arrange with you to get it into the hands of the homeless that need it the most!

  * REMEMBER: Most donated items are tax-deductible. Check with your tax advisor.

  
  
  

  We welcome and value the support of you, your friends and neighbors throughout Santa Monica and Venice.

  
  
  

  Here are a few added suggestions:
  
  

• Practice acts of courtesy and kindness. Go a little out of your way to say hello to a homeless person. Make eye contact, smile and wish them a nice day, to be safe, etc. This will afford them a little dignity which is lacking in their lives.



• Insist on common courtesy and humanity at all times. When you see an injustice, speak up. Ask yourself: "How would I feel being treated like this?" Do unto others.



• Be creative. Sponsor a Clothing Drive, a Sock Drive, a Toiletries Dnve, a Towel Drive, a Blanket Drive, etc. It is the everyday things that are hard for homeless people to come by. Laundry soap, bar soap, toothbrushes, Band-Aids, even paperclips and rubber bands come in handy.



• Get involved in our community. Let our voices and compassion be heard! Attend at least some of these meetings and speak out:


• SM Social Services Commission (4th Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Ken Edwards-Center, 1527 4th St.)
  
  
• SM City Council Meetings (2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 6:45 p.m.) or listen to the broadcast on the radio or TV
  
  
• SM Chamber of Commerce Public Safety Committee Meeting (3"' Wednesday of the month at 3 p.m. at 501 Colorado Ave. #150)



• Side By Side Meeting (1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ken Edwards Center)
  
  
• Bayside District meeting (4th Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at 1351 Third Street Promenade #301)
  
  

• Ask your church congregation to 'adopt' a homeless person. Determine what they need to restore their life. Help them find a place to live, stabilize their health, get (and keep) a job, rebuild their life, and move on. Start over again. Homelessness will be solved one person at a time.



• Help a person out of a financial or health-related jam that might otherwise force them into homelessness. It is easier and less expensive to keep a person from becoming homeless than to get them off the street once they've slipped through the social 'safety net' into the cracks.



• Volunteer a few hours a week, a month, a quarter, or a year at a Social Service Agency. Don't just make a financial donation - go and see FIRST HAND how your donation is being used. It is critically important that we all understand how thin and fragile our Social Services/Welfare "safety net" really is.





For more information,
please contact any of the sponsors listed on our 'Home' page.




PRESS HERE to return to "Home" Page.




Entire Contents Copyright ©2004 KAMCo.