S.O.S

I have the opportunity to work at The Road Home every Monday night. I work in the Kid's Book Club Program there. I love the chaos that occurs there. I love talking to the kids and their parents. The parents are doing their best to give their kids the life they never had. I respect and am inspired by the hard work they put into raising their kids. I always go away from The Road Home feeling physically drained but spiritually full. Today was an especially draining day. It was my first day being "Program Director" and organizing and planning the group reading book and activity. So after reading The Thingumajig Book of Manners the kids brainstormed about some "manners" that we should have in book club. "Don't say bitch" and "Don't go into the boy's bathroom" were some of my favorites that the kids came up with. (I tried to make the kids come up with rules without using "no" or "don't" but they didn't really grasp that.) After the chaos was over and the room put, somewhat, back together I waited with 2 kids for their parents to come pick them up. As we were waiting in the lobby I noticed that there were about 4-5 families living in the lobby. They had run out of rooms in the shelter and had set up emergency shelter in the lobby. I have never seen this many families living at the shelter. Usually the winter months bring in a lot more families and that is when it gets crowded, so it was strange to see that there were this many families displaced at this time of year.

I definitely lean to the left. I am a big proponent for the little guy, pro-choice, pro gay marriage, and anti big business (Wal-Mart is the epitome of evil). Looking at all the families in the lobby, all the kids in book club, and all the cars being lived in near the shelter, it hit me. This is the reality of the economic mess we are in. It is no longer just numbers stated by politicians and talking heads on CNN. It isn't just something that you see in the newspaper. It is reality. People's, and more importantly, children's lives have been turned upside down. While oil execs are raking in record amounts of cash, regular people are foreclosing on their homes and being forced out onto the streets. A small number of these families are homeless because of addictions as stereotypes would suggest. They are a product of our economic situation and the current administration occupying office for the past 8 years. They are a product of high gasoline prices, high food costs, foreclosure rates, high insurance costs etc. But most importantly they are human. They are just like you or I. They deserve the same health benefits as you or I simply based on the fact that they are human beings. I am so blessed to live in a home, go to school, go on an amazing trip to Africa. We have all been blessed and because of that we are able to give. Whoever is out there reading this blog, go work in a homeless shelter, work at the Utah Food Bank, or simply donate money if you're short on time. We need change, everyone is in agreement on that. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

Sorry to get political but it was just on my mind after tonight.