I’m writing this to hopefully get some honest feedback and discussion on how to treat the homeless. I still can’t figure it out. So many of you have posted thoughtful and intelligent commentary in the past…so please…help me out here.
How many times have you pulled up to a red light at an intersection and seen a man or woman holding a sign asking for money? Well…for me it’s almost everyday. It seems like everywhere I go I am faced with the decision to give…or not to give. Every time I pump gas, come out of the grocery store, or get off at an off ramp…there someone is…with a sign, a story, and a sad face.
I’ve always tried to give to those in need whenever I’m asked…but am I doing the right thing?
Sometimes I get the feeling that I’m being swindled. When a healthy looking guy in his 20’s or 30’s is standing there with a clean shaven face, new sneakers, and a cigarette in his mouth…it’s hard for me to want to give to that guy. For those types of people…it’s an easy decision, but most of the time…the decision is not that easy.
My friend recently told me a story about how him and his wife were coming out of the grocery store when he was approached by a woman and a young child. The woman told them that she had just gotten out of an abusive relationship and had nothing and nowhere to go. They gave her a couple bucks and then watched her make her rounds on the rest of the parking lot. Eventually, she made her way over to an SUV whereupon she emptied her pockets to a man in the car and then continued through the lot. The man in the car followed her around as she made her way from person to person.
[adinserter block=1]My friend, like many of us don’t just have money to burn. We work hard, pay taxes, and struggle to get ahead but we feel a desire to help those that are truly in need.
In 2012 the Huffington post did a writeup about a panhandler by the name of Shane Warren Speegle. Speegle told Oklahoma City police he made $60,000 panhandling in 2011.”Why would I go get a job?” he said to an officer who approached him earlier this month. “I’m lazy and I made $60,000.” Read More
One of the weirdest experiences I’ve had with giving to the poor took place in Downtown Salt Lake. My family and I were walking down the street near temple square and we walked by a man that “looked like Jesus”. He had a robe and a beard and he looked like he could use some help. I kept thinking of the scripture in Hebrews 13:2 that says “be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” I thought to myself…what if this is a test? I ended up emptying my wallet for him. I had no idea who he was until I saw him show up on the evening news in connection with the finding of Elizabeth Smart.
“Oh my gosh”…I said to my wife! “Thats the guy I gave money to in Salt Lake!”
The only thing that gave me comfort was telling myself that I hopefully contributed to keeping that young girl alive.
How is a person supposed to know when to give and when not to give!
We tend to associate the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with promiscuity and homosexuality but that was only half of the story. In Ezekiel we learn that the people were “arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.”
One of the greatest sermons in all of scripture and perhaps the best sermon ever delivered on giving to the poor says that,
“ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this
the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.”
What to do?
This October…I walked down the long street with many thousands of other Latter Day Saints on the way to General conference. Many “beggars” carefully positioned themselves along the streets as so many of us passed them by with our wallets in our back pockets. I could have given money to them…but I didn’t. I would have run out of any money if I had.
Should I have given it all to them?
[adinserter block=2]To make me feel even worse…Jeffrey Holland spoke in the conference at length on the topic. He quoted Proverbs when it says,
“He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker,” and “whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor … shall [also] cry himself, but shall not be heard.” Proverbs 14:31; 21:13
…and then made it clear that he is not proposing “global social programs or endorsing panhandling as a growth industry…I reassure you that my reverence for principles of industry, thrift, self-reliance, and ambition is as strong as that of any man or woman alive.”
Maybe the answer is right in front of me…but I feel bad when I turn someone away or pass them by each and every time…and I’m not quite sure what to do.
Tell me your thoughts…
Thanks for posting. This is something that i’ve always wondered too. Either way, I feel guilty. I hope we get some good discussion going on here;)
I felt that Elder Holland’s emphasis was on each receiving personal revelation for what we should be doing to be obedient to this commandment. I think we should give based on promptings rather than guilt. I often offer a phone number with a work opportunity. Needless to say I’ve never had anyone call. We can set a budget for how much our family can give each month and decide the best way to use that money. For me, it will always be giving it to the Church rather than individuals. And as I am prayerfully giving what the Lord says is my part, then I don’t worry when I pass others asking for money because “I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.”
This is the reason we have charities to give to the poor. Every beggar has access to the charities such as food banks & homeless shelters. If you give them money on the street they will continue to beg. You perpetuate the problem. Donating To a charity is donating to the poor.
I agree to a point. There are agencies established to help, but unfortunately not enough. Many are turned away. I live in Florida so the nights usually don’t get extreme but what about other areas. I live in a very affluent area with extreme poverty less than a mile from the beach. There is only 1 shelter in this area with very strict rules. Those with mental illness are not allowed entrance. What about veterans who didn’t get the mental counseling they needed after coming home and became alcoholics? It is not up to us to judge. I struggled saying exactly the same as you for many years. Then when cancer visited my family and put us into abject poverty, We came very close to begging. I became more aware of how the needs of the poor were handled. (Long story I will not get into here )I have now fought my way back with the help of my ward family. We no longer need assistance
I have read the scripture Greg quotes above, in Mosiah 4:16-19 many times to find answers to the question. Read it and pray about it while thinking of charity and what Jesus would have you do. I pray the Lord inspire you as He did me.
I rarely give money. But when I lived in the Greater Toronto Area and knew I was going to be out for lunch, I often took two lunches – one for me, and one to give away. If I was going to buy lunch, it was often at a sandwich chain, so I would ask for a footlong and ask to have it wrapped in two papers so I could give one away. When I grow my own garden, I give one tenth away to food banks or people I know are hungry or short on cash. In addition to tithing and general gifts and offerings, I often give an additional 1% of my income to charities that feed and house the poor. I have also been known to give out the number of the chapel and give the Bishop a heads up in case he gets a call, or the numbers for local food banks and shelters. As I told my dad once when he complained that I was adopting yet another abused dog, “You’re right. I can’t help save them all. But I *can* save the one in front of me.” As for the woman you mentioned in your post, if it had been me, I would have removed myself from the immediate area and then called the police and child services. It sounds like a classic abuse situation to me and something that is best left to professionals to deal with. As a man, you might feel comfortable approaching a man in a van, but as a woman, I do not.
Another thing…you mentioned feeling possibly taken advantage of. Don’t sweat it. If you give and they have need, you have done what you could. If you give and they have no need, it is on their heads.
We always pay a generous fast offering, and in addition when we can we donate to the Church’s humanitarian fund, and the perpetual education fund. We know that the church will handle those funds in accordance with the Lord’s will. After that, I have on occasion when directed by the spirit given to people who appear to be homeless. On one occasion I was shopping at the grocery store and I saw a man who was obviously homeless. He was looking at the some bread in the bread aisle with real longing in his eyes. I kind of kept my eye on him throughout my shopping. As I checked out he too left the store but with nothing in his hands. The spirit told me to give him what was in my wallet. I ran to catch up with him and took $50 out of my wallet and gave it to him. He didn’t want to take it, but I insisted. The look on his face was total incredible gratitude. He headed back into the store to buy needed food. He was very thin, and really in need. I think we have to remember that the money that God gives us is also a stewardship. How we take care of that money is a sign of our gratitude to Him, of whom we also are beggars. The money is not really ours but is a stewardship that has been given to us. I trust the spirit completely when I am prompted to share that money with others who are in need. That being said, I once saw a person in a car in front of me hand a bottle of water to a beggar on the corner. They get hot standing in the sun and it would be a true kindness to give them at least that courtesy if you could.
The title of your post echoes my own struggle with this question. I work at temple square, and must walk past a rotating assortment of beggars every single morning and evening. It’s been two and a half years, and I still get an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach every time. I’ve watched many scenarios unfold. I’ve watched passers by tell the beggars to get a job, or offer them a banana, or hand them a few dollars, or just stop and talk with them. I’ve done that a few times myself…stop and talk.
A few months ago I read a story on ksl.com that reported the background of many of the specific beggars I see every day. The story pretty much confirmed that each of them was a professional beggar with a wrap sheet. Arrests, drugs, homelessness. The whole nine yards. The story only further complicated my feelings. Maybe money wasn’t the answer? Maybe these people needed to be reformed? But how? And who could do it? And would the be willing? Prison obviously hadn’t done the trick.
I’ve also heard the following type of comment. “I donate to a charity,” or, “I pay a generous fast offering, so I never give to beggars.” This makes me feel uncomfortable. It separates the act of giving from the humanity of it all. It effectively washes the sayer’s hands of any personal responsibility for the well being of his fellow man, outsourcing it to some organization.
In short, I have no idea. I was recently kind to a homeless man, and learned I had been swindled. I’ve been a little more cynical since then. All the same, I can’t help think that God was pleased that I tried. Maybe it’s more about our heart than the actual outcome.
God was pleased you tried. Keep trying. 🙂
This definitely creates an internal struggle in my heart perhaps more than any other issue I face. Tough to know what “Jesus would do”.
I give what I can, when I can, when moved by the Spirit to do so — bottled water, granola bars, my own heavy winter gloves, cupped hands to light a cigarette in the wind, a hug, a smile, actually looking someone in the eyes and wishing them well, my last three dollars so someone can buy breakfast, a ride to the homeless shelter — I’m the only wage earner for a family of seven and don’t make half of what the panhandler in your story alleged (which is officially living below the poverty line ourselves). I work in a city where there are many beggars. Are we not all beggars before the Lord? How can I resent or pass judgment on anyone else in the world during a moment’s meeting? How could I withhold that which is only a stewardship from God without a prompting from the Spirit? I am, myself, a single blink or tragedy from the same plight. All it would take is sickness, job loss, a totalled car, a house fire…and someone deciding I wasn’t living righteously or God wouldn’t give me those trials …that if I were actually paying my tithing or (fill in the blank) none of this would have happened to me. Life is precarious. Follow the Spirit. There are times when I have stayed my hand. These have been *very* rare (as in twice in 40 years of giving) and I may never know the reason in this life. But I trust that God knows me and he knows them. Period.
Fast Offerings go towards helping the poor, so there’s that. I’ve wondered the same thing as you and found I’m most comfortable donating to an organization that helps the poor, though still follow the spirit on an individual case basis.
In the times of Christ, and for nearly 2000 years afterward, there were no social programs set in place to help the poor. Give liberally to your fast offerings. Give liberally to the food bank and the Humanitarian center. Give liberally to organizations you know HELP the poor. But as far as pan handlers go, you must follow the spirit with each one. With most of them giving is not helping. So you have to ask yourself, am I willing to give because it makes ME feel better or am I perpetuating a problem. My husband is a mailman in a very poor downtown neighborhood. He is approached multiple times a day. He has given $100 twice because the spirit told him to. But if he always gave money to these individuals it would make him and other mail carriers a target. I love the idea of the packages, but most of the time those end up in the garbage. Passing these people up may seem cruel, but that is what most are counting on. The LDS Church has asked us not to give to the beggars on Temple Square. It only perpetuates a problem. They do ask you to give to programs set in place that truly do help these people.
Really? When/Where can I find that information that the LDS Church asked people not to give to the beggars on Temple Square? This would clear up a whole lot of questions for me, I think. I would really, really like to hear/read that. Do you know where I can find that?
There used to be a sign by the Temple entrance asking Temple goers not to give money to pan handlers on the street but rather to give to charitable organizations.
Greg,
Thanks again for an article that really makes me evaluate myself and my standing with the Lord. As I read this, I had an idea. We (us Mormon folk) contribute with fast offerings to our congregations to help with the poor and needy. I know who the Bishop’s along my path to and from work are, or can find out easily enough with a little Google maps and LDS.org work, so how about this: Make up business cards (free or very cheap ordered on the web) with the numbers for agent Bishops in the area, instructions on asking them for help, and a spot to tape a quarter. Keep a few ready in your car with quarter already attached, and a highlighter pen. When you pull up, highlight the appropriate bishop, and hand them the card. That card can represent not only a gateway to food for their family for maybe months, but also a gateway into the gospel. Rarely would you have enough cash in your pockets to sustain a family for weeks or months, but the Bishop’s Storehouse routinely throws away food which has sat on the shelves uneaten. The Church welfare program is a wonderful tool to feed both the body and the soul. Thoughts?
Surely your meeting house has countless “pass along cards” sitting around. No need to print our own. We can simply put the necessary information on the card as we give it to them. Or at least have them prepared with our local ward info. Any bishop will be able to get them in touch with the right person.
I don’t give panhandlers any money. The corner in my city where I see the most of them has a McDonalds. I’ve offered to take a few into the McDonalds and buy them a meal, and most of the time my offer has been rejected. There is also a large amount of panhandlers in shopping and entertainment districts in my city, and the police have flat out asked residents to NOT give any of them money directly, since most are scammers. I do usually have some granola bars and water bottles in my car, and have offered those. I give to charitable foundations that help the homeless as well as my fast offering donations. I’m comfortable with this, and feel that Heavenly Father understands my intent.
There are many wonderful organizations out there that benefit homeless that are constantly short on funds and goods. Here in Utah we have The Fourth Street clinic, The Road Home, The Maliheh Clinic, and I could go on. If giving to panhandlers makes you uncomfortable, donate to an organization of your choice. Whether you donate your money or your time you can be sure your donation is going to help someone who is in need!
This has been a huge struggle for us too. Then I started realizing that if I follow the spirit he’ll tell me who to give to.
A couple years ago, I came upon an older lady holding a sign that said. She’s raising her three grandkids. I had a feeling I should help her. I had no money but I had a card with money on it from a return I’d just made. $5.30. I gave it to her and said it’s only $5.30 and she said, “Thank you so much. It’s enough to get a pair of gloves.” Then I noticed how red her bare hands were. Now I keep a pair in my glove box for anyone who needs them.
I’ve had bad experiences too. I was sitting in Health & Welfare with one of our adult foster sons and over heard a heated conversation between a woman mad that she could no longer get her food stamp benefits and an employee. The woman was mad saying her husband does have a job as a sign holder that it’s self employment. The employee was trying to explain it isn’t a job and they’re not paying taxes or contributing to society. Because of the couple’s refusal to look for work their food stamps were being stopped. A couple weeks later I saw this same woman and a man I figure is her husband, holding a sign at the entrance to Walmart. She was sitting in a wheelchair. I told my husband the story of this woman at H & W and that she wasn’t in a wheelchair then. As we finished up our shopping we saw her and her husband walk into Walmart, no wheelchair. I’ve since seen them at fast food restaurants using their kids to stand with them. At times with their kids sitting on the grass near by with fast food. I’ll never give to them unless I’m prompted to.
I came up with an idea after reading a few blogs on kindness. Every year on my birthday my girls and I stand on that Walmart corner with a creative sign that says I’m giving them a dollar. Last year’s was “Happy Birthday to me. I’ll give you money for free.” I get dollars in coins (because they’re fun) and hand one to each person that drives by. A few won’t look at the sign or let us approach their car and some have yelled mean things at us. But most have been surprised and are thrilled for just one dollar. People have said they won’t pass by without looking at the person and sign anymore and we’ve been told more than once that it’s a refreshing change. We may be hitting a group that isn’t homeless but I’d like to think that in some way we’re helping our little community have a more positive outlook on people they see standing on a street corner with a sign.
Mostly though, I just try to follow the spirit. If I can be his tool he’ll lead me to who needs me.
Our church works with some amazing shelters that not only feed the poor, they provide job training, provide psychiatric help, drug treatment, etc. I keep a supply of their cards with me to hand out. They can call to be picked up and taken to the shelter, also. I hesitate to add this next comment because it will sound catty, but it is fact. Our church, like all non-lds churches, also opens its books so we can see where all of our donations are going. I’ve never wondered if my donations went toward land acquisitions or mall construction. I know they are used to spread God’s word and to help the needy.
Some of you might find this interesting. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=27782692
Do you give a drunk 5 bucks? Greg, I just found the comments section, so disregard my email. :)) I enjoyed reading your post, and the comments. It sparked this response from me.
Ten years ago, I walked out of Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake with my 82 year old grandmother on my arm. Without giving any notice, she b-lined, as fast as her aging legs would propel her, over to the curb where a man in a wheelchair was begging. I watched her pull out several dollars form her purse, hand them to the man, and hold his hands in hers, for several minutes. The entire time she looked him in the eyes. She asked him how his day had been. She smiled warmly and listened. Before we left, she hugged him. Right there in front of the temple grounds. Two strangers connected. A beggar and a healer.
That day my grandmother didn’t give away money. She gave away hope. She offered healing. She touched the beggar just like Christ touched the man at the pool of Bethesda. That man couldn’t get up and walk himself into the “troubled waters” even though it was only a few feet away. So, Christ picked him up and carried him there. He lifted this man out of his misery and set him on a path of healing. Others that same day had chosen to pass him by. Perhaps, because they had their own troubles, or perhaps because he was lame. He was dirty. His clothes were ragged. His stench was overbearing. Because he was untouchable. Those were the people who judged him. But, CHRIST didn’t judge him. Instead, HE TOUCHED HIM. He understood him.
Now, I’m not saying we should open up our homes as night shelters. I’m just asking, “When was the last time we actually TOUCHED a person down on his luck? Genuinely. As Christ would have done? And what does that look and feel like?”
To me, giving isn’t about money. Because of the experience with my Grandmother Afton, I’ve tried to follow her example by reaching out and touching and talking with every homeless person I give to. I believe the adversary would love to keep us from experiencing the PURE LOVE OF CHRIST, so he whispers to us that we should separate ourselves from the homeless, the needy, and the downtrodden. That they’re just going to buy beer anyways. Satan convinces us not to open our purses, and dig deep and give, because they “MIGHT” use it to buy alcohol or drugs. I’m not advocating giving so we create a bigger population of drug addicted people. I’m saying WE. The GIVERS. The HEALERS…we need to GIVE DIFFERENTLY.
The Lantern at St. Anne’s Center in LAYTON will be the largest soup kitchen in Northern Utah. Well, guess what? They still need $300,000 to finish building it so they can feed and shelter the homeless and needy, and help with rehabilitation. Our five dollar bill can go there. It could also go to sub-for-santa for the youth at The Utah House, kids who are trying to straighten up before they end up in jail, or worse. Our money can do amazing things!
Other times, our five dollars can be a quick handout to ease a burden of someone who isn’t ready to step into a place like the Lantern and get help. And, in my opinion, that’s okay, too. Not everyone has crawled close enough to the pool, yet, to be lifted into it. And that’s not for us to worry about. So, as long as we check our hearts when we’re giving our five bucks we should feel good about giving.
Here’s a caution, though. If we believe handing a five dollar bill out the window of our car to a woman holding a sign that says “hungry” and then we drive away complaining that she’s probably just going to go by weed with it and still think that makes us a decent person, well, it doesn’t. Because we’re committing a sin. THE SIN of JUDGMENT. I’ve been guilty of it, too. But my earlier experience helped me realize I wasn’t really giving ENOUGH. I wasn’t giving real CHARITY to the beggars on the streets. I was giving money, sure. But that’s NOT what God asks us to give. He asks us to GIVE THE PURE LOVE OF CHRIST.
Imagine if each of us could wrap that kind of LOVE in a five dollar bill! What if we each wrapped that LOVE around a burger and drink and gave it to a man or woman panhandling?
Years ago, I tied fleece blankets and gave them to people in Pioneer Park. Well, I was sworn at by one homeless man. With my kids looking on from the van I ran so fast to get to the car I could have broken a world record. My kids still laugh about it this to this day. I don’t regret giving that man a blanket, even though he screamed unmentionable words at me. I knew he wasn’t screaming at me. He was screaming at life. At pain. At lost hope. My children and I had tied those blankets and I knew that that man would use that blanket on a cold night and feel warm. He didn’t want to be lifted into the “troubled waters.” Even though I was offering it to him. And that’s okay. It’s not for me to judge.
This Christmas my family and I are making dinner for men recovering from addiction at a half-way house, as part of THE FOUNDATION FOR FAMILY LIFE, in Riverton. A friend of mine is a Ph.D. in addiction recovery and he runs the place. With his staff overseeing us, my family can make dinner for these fellows and share a Family Home Evening with them. We can’t do this every night, of course, but once or twice a year? That’s so doable. I know the connections we’ll make there that night may not be life-changing for those men. But, I know for sure they’ll be life-changing for me and my family. As we share. As we love. And as we serve. These men are the poor in spirit. These are the widowed. The fatherless. The down trodden. They don’t know how good life can be and may never in this life experience the good life. But…a simple taste? We have that to give to them. So why not give it? It may be just enough to open the hearts of ONE of these men.
There may only be ONE man who turns back to say “thank you” – just like the leper who thanked Christ, but I’m not counting who makes it. I’m only counting how many attempts I make. How many times I give. How many times I give my heart, with the pure love of Christ.
Because I AM A BEGGAR, TOO, BEGGING FOR GOD’S SALVATION AND HIS LOVE. Just like those men are.
I’m not giving to make someone a bigger addict or a drunk. I believe God knows that I’m giving because it’s what I have to give. It’s my WIDOW’S MITE.
We can’t always feed a homeless man a dinner and couple it with a night of family games. In fact, that may never be an opportunity for most. All our personalities are different. For some that might terrify them! For me, though, I’ve worked with women recovering from addiction for so many years, I’m not afraid. I don’t see the addict. I see the human being dying to find a better way to end the hurt. I see a woman who got drunk because it hurts too much to remember all the horrible things she has been through. The abuse. The hunger. The neglect.
A homeless person is homeless for a reason. And guess what? They are GOOD reasons. And NOT the reasons you and I sometimes think. I haven’t been molested by my own father. I haven’t been kicked out of the house because my mother is a drunk and can’t keep a job. I don’t have a personality disorder that requires medicine I can’t afford. I wasn’t prostituted at 5 years old to all my mother’s boyfriends while she got high. These are real stories I’ve listened to over the years. And there are thousands more. So many of them so much worse. So, before we walk away and wonder should I give? Why not just give. And Leave the rest to God.
I propose we ask a different question.
HOW CAN I SHARE the SAVIOR’S LOVE?
HOW CAN GIVE HIS CHARITY?
What can I do today…to make this person’s life easier?
I’ll be honest…sometimes I’ve handed over that five dollar bill knowing that person is going to buy a beer with it. And I can live with that.
And here’s why. A man once said to me, “It’s the only thing that takes my pain in my heart away.” I didn’t know this beggar’s story. He wasn’t going to sober up at that moment, just because someone handed him a five dollar bill. Not a chance. He was going to buy beer. The ONLY way he’d sober up is if people would befriend him, love him, nurture him, teach him how to shower, how to iron clothes, how to read, how to employ coping skills when he gets depressed, how wake up in the morning and eat a healthy breakfast, and so on.
I don’t always have that to give. So, I CHOOSE to give what I can. And it may be a five dollar bill. But, when I give that five dollar bill I’m going to give it with the CHARITY that my grandmother showed me that day outside the temple. I may offer to show him where the shelter is. I may encourage him to find help. To walk into a Church on Sunday. But I still may give him the five dollars. And when I do…I will touch his hand. I will talk to him. I will share….love…serve to the best of my God-given ability. And if we give HIS LOVE…with pure intent…isn’t that is ENOUGH?
“Are we not all beggars?” The question is NOT what we are giving. The question is….are we giving ENOUGH?
Thank you for sharing this. I mean that in the most genuine way possible.
I don’t have an answer. But I do know this post made me happy…because your sincere desire to do what you can..and do the right thing is a beautiful. I KNOW that you are blessed in ALL your efforts.
Thanks a lot Virginia!
A friend sent me your link. This was our solution.
http://chroniclesofletty.blogspot.com/2014/10/care-kits-for-homeless.html?m=1
We are encouraged to give through tithes and offerings. We know that these donations go to help those in need as determined by the bishop of that area (called by God as a judge in isreal.) If people are in need, then they can get all the help they could ever hope for from the Church via the system the Lord has put in place. Sure, we all have the ability to recieve personal spiritual guidance as to what we can do beyond that, and for whom, but in general we can at least give people information on where, when, or how to contact their local bishop (members and nonmembers alike) and they will surely be helped if they want/need/seek it.
I feel safest giving my money to shelters or charities, and giving food/water/other necessities to the needy directly. I am especially cautious if giving out something hard (like crunchy granola bars, nuts, etc.) because I have noticed that a handful of the needy people I see are missing teeth. I would hate to give them something that they couldn’t use. Try to have a mix of soft and hard things, but things that are still filling and stick with you.
Always give… Just as the Lord gives us opportunities and blessings, we have the choice to misuse or not appeciate those opportunities and blessings He gives us, but He blesses us anyway… it is up to us what we do with them… likewise, those we bless or give opportunities to may squander or waste our efforts, but what if just one of those people received relief to their souls, food in their bellies, found a bed for the night, or were able to change their lives for the better through our small act of kindness, would we feel all the times we had given regardless were worth it, to save this one?
What would He do if he were in our situation? I believe He would always give… whether it were some pocket change, or some food, or simply some time. Its not what or how much we give, its giving as He would.
Remember we can spend all our days labouring, but if charity (The pure love of Christ) is not found with us, what has it profited us?
Always give 🙂
The one thing I know about homelessness and extreme poverty
is that it is rarely caused by one single thing. It is usually a combination of mental illness,
substance abuse, physical abuse etc. Since it is caused by many things so must the solution must be multifaceted as well.
I am well aware of the welfare program by the church but one
must stop and ponder…. What if all of the multi-millions of dollars that is spent on LDS temples could be spent on the poor? The homeless? If temples were turned into shelters. What a remarkable dent we could make.
Dear Mr. Trimble:
I am responding to your open letter on the homeless because I am homeless. I am married with six kids. The oldest two are in their early twenties and have already left the nest. My younger four are aged 17, 12, 5, and 3. I lost my job almost a year ago, and eventually our home a few months later. I am the homeless you don’t hear about. My wife and I are college-educated, with myself having a science background, and my wife was a nurse. I say “was” because my wife suffered two brain tumors, then eventually a carotid brain aneurysm, which eventually made her unable to work. She still suffers from her aneurysm, where this year I had to twice take her to the hospital. Once for a seizure, the second for her hemoglobin being critically low she needed three blood transfusions. I am sending this because not a lot of folks understand what it means to be homelyess. And a lot of folks who are in a similar to the situation we were in don’t realize how easily it can happen. Our poor economy and living paycheck to paycheck is just a sudden tragic event from putting people on the street.
Looking at us, you wouldn’t think we were homeless. But we try to keep what clothes we have in the best condition we can. No one wants to be homeless, for it’s a stigma. We don’t always openly admit it to just anyone. There’s a shame brought upon you, like you did something to cause it. You feel the judgement in others. The fact is, unfortunate events in life can cause it to happen.
On occassion though, we have tried to help others who we’ve come across that are homeless, and at times it pays it forward. Just a couple of weeks ago, we scrounged what money we could for gas, so we could let our 17 year old son go to a youth conference with friends from our home ward. After he left, a friend had given us a $50 gift card to Bi-Lo, a local grocery store. And you have to understand, the only vehicle we have is a 2004 Volkswagen Beetle, so piling 6 people in it is tough. We went to that grocery store, and as a treat, we bought some fried chicken, potato wedges, and a six pack of Sprite. Afterwards, we went to a Walgreens, and my wife went in to get a cheap bar of soap. As she came out, she noticed a poor guy who was also homeless. Without saying a word to him, she came straight to the car and told me she was being directed by Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost to give the food and drink we just bought to this poor gentleman, and not only was he homeless, but a veteran as well. So, I got out of our car, and I took him the food. And just after a brief conversation, I found out he was indeed homeless and a veteran. He even showed me his VA card. We still had money on our gift card, so we bought some chips and lunch meat. Later on, as we were waiting for our son’s return, we stopped at the public library. Another homeless couple, in their early twenties, made conversation with us, then they walked over to a Dollar Tree and bought our two youngest a toy a piece, and also gave them crackers and chips from their meager food supply in their backpack.
I can understand from the examples you used why you would question when and where to help those who are homeless, and are they really homeless. My wife and I have applied to numerous Section 8s and Housing Authorities across the country. The ones that are “open” have a waiting list that can take up to 48 – 60 months before being able to help. Then most of them want a family to go through a CoC (Continuum of Care), which means living in a shelter until housing becomes available. And there’s a long waiting list for that, too. All I want is to find a home for my family, finish my pharmD (Doctorate of Pharmacy), of which I have 24 months left, become self reliant again, and give back to those in need. And that has become the passion for my wife and I, to give back. The irony is, my family and I are on the other side of the spectrum in your article. We are homeless, and we are looking for anyone who can help.
Sincerely
Nate Welch
[email protected]