Random Acts of Love

For everyone of us that succeeds, its because there's somebody out there to show you the way out ~ Oprah Winfrey

In Ashland every Wednesday under a tree in Lithia Park, you will find three very large boxes filled with random items. Everything from diapers to toothbrushes; shampoo to clothing; phone cards and food. These have been left for the homeless. They know it's there. If they need something they can take it. If they have something to leave behind they do. They are never greedy and like the Buddhists who left the boxes behind they share with love.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. ~ Martin Luther King

49er truck stop in Sacramento, California offers sanctuary to the homeless every night. There are no beds, but there is hot food and a place out of the cold or heat.

Let everyone regulate his conduct by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us and the path of duty will be clear before him ~ William Wilberforce

A little second grade boy runs in slow motion so the little girl with Downs Syndrome can 'tag' him during recess.

I am the conscience of all those who knew something, but did nothing ~ Oskar Schindler

A teenager gives his brand new Christmas coat to the homeless person and doesn't stick around long enough to hear the words 'thank you.'

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry

For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day

For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone

~Audrey Hepburn~

An elderly couple leaves behind a $100 tip for their harried waitress. Their bill came to $1.49

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented ~ Elie Wiesel

A homeless man puts down his sign asking for help, to offer it to a woman with a stalled vehicle.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?" ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

A six year old gives up her favorite 'Hello Kitty' lunchbox to the homeless man because his sign says he hasn't eaten in days.

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. the hard part is doing it. ~ General H. Norman Schwarzkopf ~

Manna from heaven continues to come to us daily from unknown angels who offer random acts of love:

In Tacoma, the homeless pooled their pennies nickels and dimes together and proudly presented us with a gift of $37.00. They were thankful for what we are doing. We were thankful for this act of kindness and generosity that come from those who have nothing to begin with.

In every town we have passed through the YMCA's have offered us free showers instead of charging the traditional $2.00 per person. They we honored that we came to them. We were honored by their simple act of kindness.

In Olympia the mechanic repaired our broken van for much less than he could have because he believed in what we are doing.

In Grants Pass the manager at Denny's made sure we were well taken care of by personally serving us. He has never charged us for our final meal. He believed in what we are doing.

In Portland we were given a standing ovation from more than 100 homeless men and were honored when they and 47 homeless women joined us in our walk through my hometown.

In Redding, someone gave us a small coin purse. It was filled with $30.00 in golden dollars. I carry that small purse everywhere.

Two days ago we were given an envelope in Sacramento and told it held a bit of gas money. Inside was a $100 bill.

We pay $59.99 per month for our wireless Internet service to be able to blog. We weren't told that there was a 5 gigabyte limit to how much we can use that service and our bill had an unexpected $57.63 charge we can't afford.

I spoke to a supervisor named Angie to tell her what we were doing and explained that we couldn't afford this charge each month. How much would it cost to upgrade to 10 gigabytes. $250 per month. I thanked her and told her it was something we couldn't do, we would just have to watch our usage. She asked if I could hold on for a moment. She came back 11 minutes later with an incredible surprise.

Unlimited usage is not something Sprint provides but because we are trying to make difference, they are giving us just that. The supervisors supervisor was able to override the system and now we are receiving unlimited usage which if offered to the public would be at over $500 per month.

Manna from heaven comes in random acts of love every day.

A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies and became the ransom for the world. It was a perfect act. ~ Gandhi~

What will your random act of love be today?

www.change-for-life.org

A Rose By Any Other Name

Homelessness wasn't talked about when I was a kid. It didn't exist as far as we knew in Connecticut. But then we were the sheltered wealthy where dirty little secrets like poverty couldn't touch us. Even in the streets of New York where we spent almost as much time, Homelessness wasn't something that was visible in the streets of New York that my parents traveled on just as frequently as in Connecticut. What we knew about homelessness was what we saw in the movies or on television, therefore it was make believe.

The Tom Joad's dust bowl of Oklahoma I had pictured in my mind was hot and sticky with various shades of gray. I imagined seeing a dust storm or perhaps even a twister coming, with barely enough time to head for cover. The Grapes of Wrath men would be in overalls with some type of well worn hat, chewing on a piece of straw. The women would all be large buxom grandmotherly types, and all, wiping their hands on their aprons after having just taken some wonderful hot buttered delicacy from a roaring campfire.

Charlie Chaplin's famous tramp gave poverty a comedic turn as did Freddie the Freeloader of the 60's. Street car jumping Humphrey Bogart or Jimmy Cagney romanticized poverty in the 40's and 50's. Even though the Gypsy's of the B-movie thrillers, saved the local townspeople with their knowledge of the happenings of the full moon, they were considered just as monstrous as the fearsome Lon Chaney Jr. werewolf himself.

Hobo; tramp; bag lady; vagabond; gypsy; gutterpup; nomad; stumblebum. No matter how you say it, it still means homeless, penniless, poverty stricken. No matter how you label it, there is still the connotation that makes a negative impact. While the public may still think of living in a shelter as being a horrible way to live, here in Portland, as in many places we have been to date, having a place to turn your life around is not.

Here in the city of roses, the Portland Rescue Mission accomplishes just that. With their 12-18 month recovery residential program, it gives men and women a place to start over; a place to become clean and sober; a place where dignity, respect and self-esteem can again become a part of their vocabulary.

But the Portland Rescue Mission is more than just a place to lay your head and get sober. In the last 12 months, more than 250,000 nutritious meals were served; over 59,000 nights of shelter were provided and more than 764,000 pounds of food, clothing and toiletries were disbursed.

More than $8,000,000 annually is needed to give hope to those that lost theirs long ago. 84% of all monies are acquired by donations from people like you and I. So heed the words of the Portland Rescue Mission. Give more than a bed. Give more than a meal. GIVE HOPE.

The real cost of giving hope? Priceless.

What can the price of a cup of coffee buy these days? Click here to find out.

P.S. I want to thank the Portland Rescue Mission and all those who joined me this past Tuesday for making it an incredibly memorable day. To find out more please click on the following links.

PDX Mission

Portland Tribune

Pix of the waterfront walk

KPSU Radio interview

Calling All Angels

I talk stats til my voice is gone. Every day, four, five and six times a day, I tell people that in America there are 3,500,000 people without homes, that we know of. The numbers are probably much higher.

My throat burns because ten times a day, I tell people that 39% of that staggering number are children under the age of 18. Can you imagine your child or grandchild living in the back of a car or on a park bench. What about a 13 year old prostituting herself so she can have her first meal in days. It happens every day. You may not see it but it does.

There are 200,000 plus men and women who put their life on the line to protect their country, that are sleeping in tents, in the woods, under bridges. I talk about domestic violence; drug addiction, alcoholism. I talk about the faces that have names; that have stories that will rip at your heart; I talk about the hope that can only come from someone reaching out a hand to those who need it most.

During these last 278 miles, I walk with shoulders slumped at the end of each day, wondering if I really believe this walk of mine will make a difference. Am I doing any good. I begin to think I am crazy for taking one more step. I talk about how I hope to change the lives of others. So I call on God and trust that there will be angels taking care us

I was interviewed this morning on KOIN news here in Portland. It was at 5:40 in the morning and most of the people I knew were not up that early in the morning, but it's all good. (watch it here) When they post it on line we can post it on the website or here on the blog. I was to be back at 6:40 for a second live interview. I thought about what I didn't say on the first interview that I knew I had to say the second time around.

I never got the chance. There was breaking news and I was bumped. Again, it's all good. Disappointing, but when they post it so can I. I go the place where I am to meet a few of the men from the Portland Rescue Mission. They want to walk with me and show their support. I expected a car full at most. There were 15 men. I think I smiled the whole way, taking time to talk to as many men as I possibly can, mesmerized by their stories.

We walk 3.2 miles and at the Rose Garden we are met by about another 25 people from the mission, my family and a few friends. So now we are roughly 50 strong. We cross over the steel bridge and take a break at the Rescue Mission. There I am blessed by an almost standing ovation from about 100 people, a prayer is said in my honor and I and my family are treated to lunch. I cry, for in these faces of recovery I find my angels.

There is a bit of commotion out the window of the dining hall and we wonder what is going on. What is this all about, but it's time to go. We leave the mission for the second part of the days walk. Down the stairs, under the Burnside bridge, towards the waterfront. As we get closer there is a sea of colorful wings, gaily decorated antennae, painted faces and smiles everywhere.

The earlier commotion is now a sea of wings in brightly colored glitter and jewels, gaily colored antannae, painted faces and smiles everywhere. One by one these new angels hug me tightly and thank me for all I am doing. I thank them for all they have done for me, which is more than they will ever know. I look closely at their brilliant faces and think of all the time and effort that went into this incredible surprise. Painted on their handmade wings are the words change for life; homeless awareness; walk for change.

My call for angels became 100 strong and with these winged gifts from God by my side, we walk for homes for all.

I cannot tell you if I am making a difference in any ones life with this walk, but I can tell you everyone is making a difference in mine.

"but if you could...do you think you would trade it in?

all the pain and suffering?

ah, but then you'd miss

the beauty of the light upon this earth

and the sweetness of the leaving."

Jane Silberry