Project Housed

For me, the night is sweet. I snuggle in my home with my husband and my dog and we relax together, reading, surfing the web, enjoying each other's company.

(Boz doesn't read and surf the web, of course. We read to him. Otherwise how else is he going to keep up with current events?)

I find it hard to imagine what the night would be like if I didn't have my family and our home. Where would I sleep? Would I even feel safe enough to close my eyes? Where would I go when it gets cold?

Lately I've seen more homeless people on the streets. Have you? Have you wanted to do something but felt helpless? A handout on a street corner--where does that go? I wish I could say I've never suspected it went to the liquor store.

Thanks to Wired Women, Monica Hubbard's super local weekly email*, I heard about Project Housed-Pasadena. During the week of August 7-12, trained volunteers will "fan out on the streets of Pasadena to survey those [homeless] they find. From these responses, a list of the 20 most vulnerable homeless persons will be generated. Working from this list, Housing Works, a non-profit agency that serves homeless persons, will outreach to the identified homeless persons and work with them to become housed. Once housed, Housing Works and supportive service and healthcare agencies in the City of Pasadena will provide the services necessary to allow the participants to remain housed and integrate into the community."

Take a look at the website and watch the video. There are all kinds of ways you can participate. You can be trained to survey homeless people, you can give money, donate or assemble move-in kits and more.

Twenty people isn't everyone, but it's a start. A handout only changes a few minutes. Integration into the community changes a life.



*If you want to know more about Wired Women, email me and I'll get you hooked up.