If I have a dream of a quiet week, this was not a successful week. Ten days ago I was involved in a conversation about helping persons who have no homes or are sleeping no the streets. After several followup moving forward actions were suggested I recommended that the person in the county who heads up this type of service be informed and I offered to do that. The resulting meeting included a county commissioner with a brief update on the current situation, some pending plans and dreams, and other possible avenues to explore. No unique and definite solutions were outlined.
That evening at an event at the college I thanked the university president for his support of DACA students and mentioned the need for housing in Monmouth during cold snaps. We discussed several uses of the now vacant buildings on campus and he said, "Give me a call."
The next day a gentleman who lives our direction from town stopped by the church and wondered about assistance for a man sleeping in his car along side the road. A couple days later that homeless man showed up at church while we were serving homeless families a evening meal. We offered him the meal and I said I'd go with him to the county resource center the next day which I did. After helping him migrate some of the system I left him in the hands of the county with hopes that he would find some way to move forward. This morning his car was back alongside the road in his safe spot.
While I was at the resource center one of the staff told me that several ministers may be contacting me about setting up warming shelters for this winter. I only wondered how all this could happen in less than a week with no preparation or preplanning. It wasn't and isn't on my bucket list or my to-do list but with the rapidity of the events, this was no coincident; it was guided as if part of a much larger master plan.
Oh, yes, and we are helping a lady move out of her apartment but with no specific place to go.
Where will this stop so I can go back to my bucket list?
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