How can you help with homelessness

This won’t be your typical conversation as I normally do on Wednesdays but we are still going to talk. If that’s ok let’s get into it…..

What does homelessness look like?

Homelessness looks like a school teacher who works a full-time job but can’t find housing because she doesn’t make enough money

Homelessness looks like a mom who is running away from her abusive husband with 3 kids in tow

Homelessness looks like a husband and wife who both lost their jobs and can’t their credit together to get a home

Homelessness looks like a man who has lost his way and has turned to drugs

Homelessness looks like someone who has a mental issue and has nowhere else to turn

Homelessness looks like a woman who has 4 kids and can’t get a job that pays enough for daycare

How can you help with homelessness?

How can you help with homelessness

First, you need to put yourself in their shoes. I will be doing that this week where I will participate in a campaign called Wheels 4 walls.

I challenge you to participate also by sleeping in your car overnight. You can do it right in your yard or in a safe and secure location of your choice. If you are in Atlanta you can participate in a group sleep in on October 5th. If you are not in Atlanta you can always do it in your yard which I plan on doing. I want to bring awareness to this because everyone I mentioned above…I know personally.

• Our House’s #Wheels4Walls challenge is raising money to help Georgia families experiencing homelessness.
• For many families, their car is their only shelter and place of refuge. We’re challenging you to experience – just for one night – what that can be like.
• Funds raised by the campaign will help break the cycle of homelessness, getting families out of their cars and into homes.
• You can make donations at http://wheels4walls.com.
• Our House is hosting a Group Sleep-In event in Old Fourth Ward on Oct. 5, 2018. Participants will park in a secured lot and sleep in their vehicles. It will be a night to celebrate compassion, community and enabling new starts. Reserve your spot here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wheel4walls-sleep-in-tickets-49334246058
• Our House is an Atlanta shelter for homeless families with newborns.
• Our House breaks the chains of homelessness by providing quality early childhood education and comprehensive support services for families experiencing homelessness.
• Our House is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Do you accept the challenge? I will be going live on Insta with my kita in the dark and I will also do a video in support of us joining in.

Let me tell you a little about Our House…

Our House opened its doors in March 1988 to offer reliable, free childcare to metro Atlanta families experiencing homelessness. The founders, a group of local community volunteers along with Reverend Joanna Adams, took notice that families experiencing homelessness were required to leave emergency shelters early every morning — despite the weather conditions, despite the health status of all family members and regardless of whether or not they had nowhere to go. The parents of these families, mostly single mothers, were given a relatively short amount of time to secure both employment and other housing before being required to permanently leave their shelters. Moved by this hardship, the founders realized that without reliable childcare, these parents were trapped in the cycle of unemployment, poverty, and homelessness.

Our House founders also understood that to effectively combat homelessness, programs and services had to address the root causes of homelessness: lack of childcare, lack of education and lack of work skills among parents experiencing homelessness. Our House grew to meet these needs by offering year-round, free childcare; comprehensive support services for families and a credential-earning, job-training program.

By tackling homelessness at its source, we help the generation experiencing homelessness today, and break the cycle for those most likely to experience it tomorrow.

Being homeless is a real thing and I want to make sure my kids are aware of what’s going on. In order to get families out of cars, I want you to get into your car and show the world what we can do together to bring awareness to a problem that is getting bigger by the minute. If you are joining me please use hashtag #wheels4walls. For everyone that joins me that night, I will be making a $10 dollar donation towards the cause. Yes for each person out of my circle that joins me I will make a donation to helping with homelessness.

Make sure you follow Our House on social media to learn more and ways that you can help

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OurHouseGa/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OurHouseGA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhousega/

Wed Links

To learn more about Our House please click here

Did you know that there are more homeless men than women?

Atlanta needs to be on this list. I can see why so many of these states have so much poverty…not making enough to afford housing

Have you ever wondered what it’s really like to be poor?

I know a thing or two about being poor. The stress is unspeakable and then when you finally break through there is a high cost to everything back together again.

I love the tiny houses for homelessness can all of America get on this train.

You really can’t live anywhere on minimum wage.

Safe, stable housing, is essential to the healthy growth of children.