This morning’s essay will be brief but I didn’t want to leave you hanging.
Behind the 18th-century façade of Williamsburg lies a community that has the same bugs and features as any other community in America – including a population of individuals who do not have homes. They live (largely invisibly) under railroad crossings, on secluded outside benches, and in the woods behind the College of William and Mary. “House of Mercy,” a local community outreach organization, provides a year-round “day shelter” and lots of other services to the economically insecure people in Williamsburg, including those without reliable shelter.
Another organization, the Community of Faith Mission, runs an emergency shelter program through the winter months. The chart below shows which churches are participating, beginning with St. John Baptist Church this week and ending with Smith Memorial Baptist Church in the middle of March.
These churches have adequate space, along with a kitchen and shower facilities. Some of them also have washers and dryers. Tim and I have volunteered to staff the shelter at the church we used to attend, the Williamsburg United Methodist Church. When you work in a program like this, even for one week a year, you become aware of the economic problems experienced by people who are like you in many ways, except without enough money to live on. It doesn’t matter how they came to be that way – what matters is that they need shelter, food, and a bit of dignity right now. Poverty isn’t a lack of character – it’s a lack of cash.
At every homeless shelter, you’ll find families with small children. You’ll find people who keep their work tools in their cars and need you to wake them up in the morning so they can go to work. You’ll also find people coping with mental illness and addiction. The people staffing these shelters are not there to judge the people using the shelter – they are they to house them and make them feel cared for, at least for one night. They are there to give them “shelter from the storm.”
If you live in Williamsburg, contact these churches to ask what you can do to help. If you live somewhere else, there are undoubtedly similar programs near you. Call them and ask what you can do to help.
Poverty isn't a lack of character, it's a lack of cash.
Amen
Thanks, Karen. What you have written today are thoughts near and dear to my heart. Your essay reminds me of a poem written by my favorite poet, Mary Oliver. “In the Storm” might be of interest to some of your readers as a thoughtful closure to your essay. 😎