VOLUNTEERING

Almost 600,000 people in the United States of America don’t have the opportunity to have one, let alone three, meals a day. 600,000 people remain hungry as most of America turns a blind eye. However, soup kitchens, food pantries etc. work with volunteers and donations to make a difference.

Carroll County’s Soup Kitchen in Georgia hosts a monthly event they call Soup Kitchen Week. During the last week of every month, the many volunteers gather to put together more than a thousand packed lunches to go along with a hot meal. Each Soup Kitchen Week, the hungry show up to enjoy a hot meal with an option to grab a sandwich meal to-go for later. For every role played, a set of hands from a volunteer is necessary. This soup kitchen has had 1,746 volunteers between January 2017 up until July 2017. At the end of 2016, there was a total of 3,229 volunteers

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Some people hesitate to volunteer because they fear the unknown. People hear or see someone homeless and they fear for their own safety and well-being. Then comes the guessing to the homeless person’s situation. The automatic assumption, more often than not, is someone who is homeless has messed around with drugs. According to Social Solutions, almost 600,000 people are homeless. Not all of them can have the same story. Although substance abuse can lead to someone becoming homeless, it isn’t the only reason. As a matter of fact, substance abuse is more likely to be a result of homelessness instead of the cause. Drugs and alcohol are used to cope in stressful situations and having nowhere to live and nothing to eat falls under that category. Substances seem more opening than judging faces and discriminating comments, especially from those unwilling to understand. A large portion of the homeless population in the United States belong to a young age group. Social Solutions recorded 550,000 homeless people being under the age of 24. Child abuse, domestic abuse and conflict with their sexuality contribute to homelessness at such a young age.

Fear of the unknown shouldn’t hold people back from volunteering and being able to help in their own communities. This article aims to help people gain more understanding about situations and circumstances of homelessness. If you would like to spread the message, contact us at Ts4Hope@yahoo.com.

References

http://www.socialsolutions.com/blog/2016-homelessness-statistics/

https://sunrisehouse.com/addiction-demographics/homeless-population/

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/addiction.pdf