I have associated myself with various Homeless Shelters in the Maryland area simply because I take issue with Non Profit Organizations who take huge portions of contributions to pay employees, rents, or mortgages, or even advertising. Do not misunderstand my thinking, I am fully aware that they must take a percentage in order to operate and while I cannot prove that the contributions are disproportionately distributed, as I have not done the research, my gut tells me that most of the contributions never reach the intended target. With that in mind, I began making my donations / contributions directly to those in need. Hand to hand. Cold water to the homeless on the streets during hot weather, hand warmers, gloves and coats during extremely cold weather, hot meals, rents, etc the point is, I give directly to the needy bypassing non profits altogether. At the end of the day, I can rest assured knowing that I gave to someone who actually needed and benefited from my gift.
I won’t go into how this came about but, the thought was to take my gift giving to another level. I wanted to make a huge difference. I wanted to Stamp Out Homelessness! I’ve sponsored families for Thanksgiving and Christmas… not enough…people don’t just need to eat during holiday time! My husband and I have purchased school supplies and shoes for inner city youth and collected canned goods. We’ve Trick or Treated for coats (collected over 500) and personal hygiene products for the homeless and donated suits for men and women returning to work…we have even taken into our own home children who needed to be loved, nurtured and given an opportunity to be productive citizens…whoopee! Not enough! I discovered that much of what I was doing was a temporary fix. I needed to do something which provided a permanent fix. Something which would shatter the mold of homelessness which often haunts generations of a family. It has been said that women who find themselves in welfare lines produce off spring who follow their lead. You see, we are a society who follows by example. If taught, we can learn. Now, you can set negative examples or positive examples. I often explained it like this to my own children. ” If you toss a pebble into a body of water, you are going to get ripples.” “Imagine yourself a pebble. You will either make positive ripples or negative ones” “Those ripples will effect others long after you have left this earth.” “Question is, do you want to leave positive ripples or negative ripples?”
I am certain that if we were to attempt to teach one homeless family various survival skills, and systems, vocational skills and take an interest in them assuring them that they are indeed a valued member of society, we can change the fate of that family. The bigger picture is that the ripple effect would come into play and we would change the future of the children. One step closer to stamping out homelessness. This takes a little effort from each of us. It can be done and I intend to prove it.
I am currently working with a family of four. I want to dramatically change their lives by teaching them to fish!
You can help. Start talking to your friends and family. I am looking for employers to hire and train the parents. If you have an automobile you no longer want, we can use it. Tutors for the children. A townhome to rent in the Laurel Maryland area. Someone to sponsor fundraisers. Financial donations. Food. Currently, this family lives in a motel. Motels are expensive. I would like to place them in suitable housing. I cannot do this alone. Search your hearts and give serious thought as to how you can help. We bring about results when we talk with others. You can reach me at my email CSantiagoSellsHomes@gmail.com
Thank you
csantiagosellshomes 