Project Change

Information is Key

Benefiting: Hope Faith Ministries, Operation Breakthrough & TLC

For the month of February I found myself craving knowledge. I believe I learned more about my perceptions of the homeless than I probably cared to know. I am thankful for the opportunity to understand myself and others and that the general fears and perceptions that exist can be shattered with a single conversation or experience.

I chose to research and dive into several organizations to raise my own awareness of the local situations in the KC Metro area. I found that it is easy to volunteer your time. If you don't have a dime to spare, you have time, will, effort and typically we can all clean out our closets to benefit another. The following websites make it easy to learn about local organizations and find a volunteer opportunity that interests you: www.volunteermatch.org and http://gkccf.guidestar.org. In the urban core I can walk into Hope Faith Ministries and serve breakfast without reservation. And with little effort I can help an organization like Operation Breakthrough by organizing clothing, books or simply holding babies (who DOESN'T need a baby fix from time to time?!). This list is endless and with a few phone calls you can change your perception, change your life.

I learned through the Johnson County organization TLC, there is a new type of homeless for Johnson County youth, "couch surfers", these are typically 11-18 year olds who don't have a permanent home and move from friend to friend, needing to be noticed and guided. I also learned that there is a HUGE need for foster parents with thousands of requests a year and very few who are available to serve. I also learned that 37% of our homeless are diagnosed with a chronic mental illness, making it close to impossible to get back on their feet without medications and/or therapy. Depression falls under this category which can enter our lives at the end of a relationship, loss of a job, or a parent.

Through observing and listening I learned there are heroes in our midst. The non-profit workers, those in need and the volunteers. We are all the same. For the month of February I learned that the "change" in project change for me was a new perception of the homeless, and the volunteer. I am the true receiver of grace when I volunteer to become a part of this city reach across rather than down to someone in need and recognize not their situation, but the person apart from the situation. Whether it takes small steps or you leap into it, you have the power to not only change the lives of others, but your own life. 

Feed the Hungry

Benefiting: Holy Family House

On March 30th I showed up, fairly unannounced, at a local homeless shelter and food kitchen, the Holy Family House.
You can see a full list of what they do and their needs on their website. Their section "for young people" is GREAT information for anyone!

Basically they open their home 6 nights a week to the poor and homeless with a free dinner, 4 days a week for breakfast, and also help with clothing vouchers, prescriptions, bus passes, etc. The number of people served has jumped from the low-mid 100's/dinner during the week to numbers seen in the calendar photo.

This was a very warm atmosphere in this small home and everyone was welcoming and ready to visit. I showed up to be of service to their needs and left feeling like I had an evening with friends. It is an important part of this organization, to simply talk to and hang out with their clients. Sometimes the most effective way to help a person and ourselves is to listen. I was asked to help by greeting, talking to several people, helping with the to-go containers as we went through over a hundred, and as it turns out, to be a photographer!

As part of this challenge we need to take photos and so many of these people don't have pictures of themselves or their friends. This was a VERY photogenic bunch! I plan to not only print their pictures and return with them to hand out, but to continue volunteering and collecting our to-go containers, and other non recyclable plastic bags and containers, to be reused here! 

Save the Planet

Benefiting: Ivanhoe Neighborhood  through The Front Porch Alliance

My "Save the Planet" mission for April was to work with the Ivanhoe Neighborhood through the Front Porch Alliance.

This organization works with a large area in the inner city to make it a better place for the residents to live. They work hand in hand with the families who live in the Ivanhoe Neighborhood to make it a nicer, safer place. They also have programs for the adults, children and families to help them learn ways to have a better life and take care of the things they have. I joined a group of residents and volunteers from my church to weed, clean out, plant and mulch the 2 areas at the main entry to the neighborhood. It was very rewarding to see the transformation take place from beginning to end and how beautiful the flowers looked around their neighborhood signs. It was also great to talk to and work together with the residents there, what great gardeners!! They were so thankful for the help, but I was more thankful for the opportunity to meet them, and be a part of what they were doing. In my neighborhood, people are hired to keep up the entries. They work, are paid, and we pass by daily without much thought. As we were working at Ivanhoe, people stopped to watch! They drove by honking, stopped to say "THANK YOU!", a KC Star newspaper reporter even stopped to interview several of us because he thought it was such a great thing! Can you imagine that happening in your neighborhood? It made me appreciate everything I have and take pride in the people of Ivanhoe, that they are working so hard to make a better life, with smiles on their faces the whole way! 

Game Night

Benefiting: Front Porch Alliance

Summer is here!! It is time to have deck parties and bbq's, where neighbors, family and friends gather to hang out and have a great time! I thought, why not have a party with a purpose! So our kickoff to summer, after the last day of school, we had a party! Everyone who came was supposed to bring a new or gently used game. So many of us have games gathering dust in our homes while there are families that may not own one single game! I chose Front Porch Alliance to partner with, and a week later took over 50 donated games and 20 family movies to a family night with several families from the Ivanhoe neighborhood! We shared pizza, played BINGO, and everyone took games and movies home with them to keep. Wow! What amazing people! We all had a GREAT time! I think that a "party with a purpose" is definitely something I will do again! What about you?