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I'd Like to Help the Homeless

LovesOurLord

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Some of them have come to our pastors asking for help also. One of our church staff mentioned to me not long ago that he gave a gift card (from the local grocery store) to that homeless person.

They already get lots of food and clothing. What they need is drug and alcohol treatment and if they refuse it, then that's their choice. I'd suspect such a gift card would be quickly traded for cash and that cash used for drugs.

This little piece about Skid Row in Los Angeles by a police officer that has patrolled it for nearly 30 years may be of benefit to you:



We have a local shelter here in Denver called Step Denver (formerly known as Step 13) which takes in people who want rehab on the expectation of being sober while there. I think we need more of these facilities.
 
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sunshineforJesus

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My church has an awesome ministry called Feed the need in which
the people involved in the ministry go to different towns with a van,and serve food
and have clothes and etc all out of a van. We also help out with a food pantry and at times sell food
at church events such as craft fairs.
 
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Mountainmanbob

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My wife and I are considering starting a new ministry.

Socks & Sandwiches

The homeless can always use
a pair of new clean socks
and a healthy sandwich.

M-Bob
 
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LovesOurLord

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My wife and I are considering starting a new ministry.

Socks & Sandwiches

The homeless can always use
a pair of new clean socks
and a healthy sandwich.

M-Bob

Did you see the video I posted above by the police officer?
 
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Mountainmanbob

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Did you see the video I posted above by the police officer?

Yes, just now and after working with the homeless for close to 50 years I do agree with him.

My wife and I still think there is a little something that we can do?
M-Bob
 
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LovesOurLord

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Yes, just now and after working with the homeless for close to 50 years I do agree with him.

My wife and I still think there is a little something that we can do?
M-Bob

I'd suggest supporting a local treatment program. People bringing them things disincentivizes them going for treatment.
 
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SeamusDelion

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I actually live in a homeless Shelter ATM, and have been Chronically Homeless for most of my life. Just because we are homeless does not mean we are worthless or lost. I am an an aspiring Theologian, and I study Gods word with a bible software that cost me over 2k I have access to most things many people do not. I have a phone, a laptop, and clothing, and I am content.

A very over looked passage in the bible is this:
(Php 4:10–13).
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

A lot of people use verse 13 out of context, but forget or neglect to see that this verse is about being strengthened with content. God has blessed me with somewhere to lay my head, somewhere to eat, shower, and wash my clothing. I am no longer a drug addict and gang member, but am a Child of the LIVING GOD! There is Power in the name of Jesus, because I know that He who started a Good work in me will see to its completion. Even if i wonder off the path of righteousness, Jesus will come back for me, leaving the 99 behind. No one can snatch me out of Jesus hand.

I have a ministry I used to hand out socks. and various snacks, bible tracks, and Subway tokens, or small amounts of Coffee Shop Cards and use it as a way to talk to other homeless about what Jesus is doing in my life, how I can relate to them because I too, am homeless yet, delivered from the addictions of drugs and oppression of the world. I use this as a way to pray for others, something I love doing. God is good, and He has His Children in different areas for a reason - to bring Himself Glory.

Jesus is Lord!
 
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SeamusDelion

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They already get lots of food and clothing. What they need is drug and alcohol treatment and if they refuse it, then that's their choice. I'd suspect such a gift card would be quickly traded for cash and that cash used for drugs.

This little piece about Skid Row in Los Angeles by a police officer that has patrolled it for nearly 30 years may be of benefit to you:



We have a local shelter here in Denver called Step Denver (formerly known as Step 13) which takes in people who want rehab on the expectation of being sober while there. I think we need more of these facilities.


Why do you judge all Homeless as drug addicts ? Some people are homeless because of chronic pain and disability, like myself. I do not use drugs. I live in a homeless shelter, and I could use the heck out of some socks! (Even though I use my money to buy things I need, like hygiene and clothing, pay my phone bill etc etc . I could always use socks... Do you know why the homeless need socks so much? I will tell you why:

Picture you are forced to wake up early get out of bed and vacate the premises regardless of its freezing cold out side, or blistering hot. You now have to remain outside with no where to go for hours until the shelter allows you back into it usually around super time. So from 8 AM till 5 PM you walk around the city seamlessly, usually without hope, since you are homeless, usually have Hygiene issues and that makes it hard to find a job. getting a good nights rests is near impossible, from all the dirty smells of feet, and people with hygiene problems who do not bath, then the fact that you're usually cramped into a small dorm setting, with other men who snore, and by the time you finally get some rest you are abruptly awoken to repeat the process. The only shoes you own start to smell because you're forced to ware them all day, and you have no where to rest and take them off. Usually when you buy a new pair they quickly get ruined because your socks and feet smell back, and the problem proceeds.

This is the case for ALL homeless people, including myself.

However, some may be drug addicts, and a lot of time, they result in that due to the nature of their treatment at these shelters. Some people refuse to live in the shelter due to this process and rather live in a tent or on a warm subway grate. Some people do not even use drugs and they have this problem solely for the fact they are forced outside all day, with no where to go. Usually homeless people have no family support hence why they live in the shelter to begin with. And people in my case, where brought up in foster care and forced to go to the shelter when they turned 18 and have found it very hard to transition out of it.

I think it is very unfair you judge people this way. My approach is this:

Socks, a quick snack, subway token and a 2-3$ gift card to a coffee shop that they can use to buy an item granting them access for a while in a warm setting. You can not sell the card for any type of drugs, and most people will keep the token for the transportation to get home. however no one is the same, and so you must use something God calls Discernment.

Try to put yourself in their situation for 1 week. become homeless and do not use your money to survive. anyone can do it. Go to a shelter for 1 week and experience what we experience.

Then, and only then can you give your opinionated ideas of forced treatment wasting tax payers money. - Not all drug addict want addiction help, and to force them into it would do nothing for them..

Instead try kneeling to their level and praying for them.


1 Peter 3:12

12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
 
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Mountainmanbob

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Why do you judge all Homeless as drug addicts ? Some people are homeless because of chronic pain and disability, like myself. I do not use drugs. I live in a homeless shelter, and I could use the heck out of some socks! (Even though I use my money to buy things I need, like hygiene and clothing, pay my phone bill etc etc . I could always use socks... Do you know why the homeless need socks so much? I will tell you why:

Picture you are forced to wake up early get out of bed and vacate the premises regardless of its freezing cold out side, or blistering hot. You now have to remain outside with no where to go for hours until the shelter allows you back into it usually around super time. So from 8 AM till 5 PM you walk around the city seamlessly, usually without hope, since you are homeless, usually have Hygiene issues and that makes it hard to find a job. getting a good nights rests is near impossible, from all the dirty smells of feet, and people with hygiene problems who do not bath, then the fact that you're usually cramped into a small dorm setting, with other men who snore, and by the time you finally get some rest you are abruptly awoken to repeat the process. The only shoes you own start to smell because you're forced to ware them all day, and you have no where to rest and take them off. Usually when you buy a new pair they quickly get ruined because your socks and feet smell back, and the problem proceeds.

This is the case for ALL homeless people, including myself.

However, some may be drug addicts, and a lot of time, they result in that due to the nature of their treatment at these shelters. Some people refuse to live in the shelter due to this process and rather live in a tent or on a warm subway grate. Some people do not even use drugs and they have this problem solely for the fact they are forced outside all day, with no where to go. Usually homeless people have no family support hence why they live in the shelter to begin with. And people in my case, where brought up in foster care and forced to go to the shelter when they turned 18 and have found it very hard to transition out of it.

I think it is very unfair you judge people this way. My approach is this:

Socks, a quick snack, subway token and a 2-3$ gift card to a coffee shop that they can use to buy an item granting them access for a while in a warm setting. You can not sell the card for any type of drugs, and most people will keep the token for the transportation to get home. however no one is the same, and so you must use something God calls Discernment.

Try to put yourself in their situation for 1 week. become homeless and do not use your money to survive. anyone can do it. Go to a shelter for 1 week and experience what we experience.

Then, and only then can you give your opinionated ideas of forced treatment wasting tax payers money. - Not all drug addict want addiction help, and to force them into it would do nothing for them..

Instead try kneeling to their level and praying for them.


1 Peter 3:12

12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

My wife and I have been thinking about a little ministry start up when she retires. Have shared with a few people this idea and some support it and some don't.

Your post has pushed me in the yes direction.

Socks & Sandwich Ministry

M-Bob
 
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SeamusDelion

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My wife and I have been thinking about a little ministry start up when she retires. Have shared with a few people this idea and some support it and some don't.

Your post has pushed me in the yes direction.

Socks & Sandwich Ministry

M-Bob

Amen! Socks and sandwiches are a good way to speak to people. This is how I use these things.

When you approach someone and try to talk to them about Jesus, usually if they are haters of God their hearts are closed off and they don't want to hear you, sometimes they will even get mad at you and start calling God names and freaking out on you, calling you a bigot or saying you're pushing your faith on them.

When you approach someone with small items such as socks or sandwiches they feel some sort of obligation to be kind, and listen to what you have to say. This has always been my experience, and I've done this a lot. I can promise you that you will not ever approach a homeless person that does not NEED socks. and having a nice sandwich sometimes makes a whole difference, maybe they missed lunch or were sick, or had an appointment ? I believe God is sovereign and will direct your path


1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,
Luke 1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Psalm 44:18 Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way;
Isaiah 26:7 The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous.
 
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Behold

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When you see that person standing in the Heat of Summer or during the Cold of winter, outside, and their sign says....>"help" "hungry", then give them some money.
You've just helped the poor.

And you say..>"well, what if they are on the street because they are a drug addict, or just made stupid choices in life".
Then be glad all your stupid choices didn't end you up on the street so that some carnal greedy "forum only" christian can judge you instead of helping you when you have not eaten in 2 days or slept well outside in 16 months.

Jesus said you'd always have the poor with you, and to give to the poor is to lend to the Lord.
So, it does not matter regarding why they are on the street, as God is not looking at them in this situation, and He is not looking at your money in this situation, He is , as usual, only looking at your heart's motive.
Christ didn't save you because you are good enough, He only saved you because He is Love.
Love GIVES.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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One problem is that some cities don't want to be a magnet for the poor and the homeless so they limit their welfare programs. Of course this places more of the burden on ngo's, churches, and the good will of citizens.
 
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actionsub

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One problem is that some cities don't want to be a magnet for the poor and the homeless so they limit their welfare programs. Of course this places more of the burden on ngo's, churches, and the good will of citizens.

Yep. That's what we have here where I live. In addition, they make it doubly hard for the churches and charities to help as well by creating a string of hoops for helpers to jump through.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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actionsub

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Sunshinee777

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My church does a bit of work to help the homeless, for instance, our weekly fellowship meal is open to all townspeople. Some homeless folks come to it every week.

Some of them have come to our pastors asking for help also. One of our church staff mentioned to me not long ago that he gave a gift card (from the local grocery store) to that homeless person.

If you have worked with the homeless, I would love to hear about your experiences. How have you best been able to help them? Were there any serious problems? How long have you been working at this? Anything else I should know?

Little things matter. You don’t need any organisation between you and the person you want to help.

Buy food, drop food for all those you see without. If you have clothes you don’t need, drop for those in need. No need to make things complicated.
I have seen videos about people cooking soup and offering it to those living on the street. I have seen people offering to pay groceries for random people. There is always opportunity to make someone’s day. Im not saying you should go somewhere dangerous though. God bless you:)
 
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onceEMT

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My church does a bit of work to help the homeless, for instance, our weekly fellowship meal is open to all townspeople. Some homeless folks come to it every week.

Some of them have come to our pastors asking for help also. One of our church staff mentioned to me not long ago that he gave a gift card (from the local grocery store) to that homeless person.

If you have worked with the homeless, I would love to hear about your experiences. How have you best been able to help them? Were there any serious problems? How long have you been working at this? Anything else I should know?
 
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Gospel4Asia

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Hello and good day!

If we are talking about the homeless situation in the USA & Canada, then I can say that in urban areas one thing that many homeless people need is a place to sit down for a while and take the weight off, so to speak. Many places provided free or low costs nightly shelter stays. Free hot cooked meals are also given away free of charge. Programs like SNAP/Food Stamps also provide food benefits. However what is often lacking are places to simply sit down and have a rest during the day. Most shelters/missions kick out nightly guests, even those guaranteed a bed the next night, early in the morning. Often between 05:00AM to 06:30AM most shelters evict their guests. Check-in if often around 5 to 6PM so many homeless people have no free safe place to spend the day.

If you have a church and some sort of area(s) where homeless people can drop-in during the day, use the restroom, get a drink of water etc it's greatly appreciated. Nowadays free Wi-Fi and a place to charge up a phone would probably be appreciated as well. But more than anything is somewhere cool in the summer and warm in the winters to simply sit down for a while.

Personally I think such a daytime drop-in center is easier in someway than hosting homeless people overnight. Any sort of snacks, water, clean socks, free books, Christian literature, tracts, small Bibles (think the Gideon's pocket NT) would also be appreciated by many.

Lockers and small storage spaces would be greatly appreciated. These don't have to be open all day, everyday. But a set of lockers could be open to the public say twice weekly during fixed times. If you're homeless and have no where to keep anything safe then the burden of carting around all you own also means lugging that stuff around. Kinda of hard to do much when you look homeless and can't leave your stuff anywhere safe. Being able to keep some valuables such as papers, documents & sets of clothes, photos, maybe a musical instrument somewhere safe is a huge help.

Speaking of which, with the holiday season upon us, many people on the streets would surely appreciate any care or concern shown for them. I saw one woman in Canada would go around and place coats/jackets for the winter cold in public places with notes attached saying: "FREE, TAKE IT" and some people left notes that said the coats had literally saved their life on a cold winter's night...
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Hello and good day!

If we are talking about the homeless situation in the USA & Canada, then I can say that in urban areas one thing that many homeless people need is a place to sit down for a while and take the weight off, so to speak. Many places provided free or low costs nightly shelter stays. Free hot cooked meals are also given away free of charge. Programs like SNAP/Food Stamps also provide food benefits. However what is often lacking are places to simply sit down and have a rest during the day. Most shelters/missions kick out nightly guests, even those guaranteed a bed the next night, early in the morning. Often between 05:00AM to 06:30AM most shelters evict their guests. Check-in if often around 5 to 6PM so many homeless people have no free safe place to spend the day.

If you have a church and some sort of area(s) where homeless people can drop-in during the day, use the restroom, get a drink of water etc it's greatly appreciated. Nowadays free Wi-Fi and a place to charge up a phone would probably be appreciated as well. But more than anything is somewhere cool in the summer and warm in the winters to simply sit down for a while.

Personally I think such a daytime drop-in center is easier in someway than hosting homeless people overnight. Any sort of snacks, water, clean socks, free books, Christian literature, tracts, small Bibles (think the Gideon's pocket NT) would also be appreciated by many.

Lockers and small storage spaces would be greatly appreciated. These don't have to be open all day, everyday. But a set of lockers could be open to the public say twice weekly during fixed times. If you're homeless and have no where to keep anything safe then the burden of carting around all you own also means lugging that stuff around. Kinda of hard to do much when you look homeless and can't leave your stuff anywhere safe. Being able to keep some valuables such as papers, documents & sets of clothes, photos, maybe a musical instrument somewhere safe is a huge help.

Speaking of which, with the holiday season upon us, many people on the streets would surely appreciate any care or concern shown for them. I saw one woman in Canada would go around and place coats/jackets for the winter cold in public places with notes attached saying: "FREE, TAKE IT" and some people left notes that said the coats had literally saved their life on a cold winter's night...

Welcome to CF!

The problem with such programs is that they become a 'magnet' for the poor and homeless, who are much more mobile than most realize.
 
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