Welcome to Day 2 of our Giving Thanks project. Yesterday we talked about the importance of our health. I hope you had a few minutes to reflect on your own health and how you might want to improve it. You only get one body, so let’s take good care of it. If you missed that post, you find it here: Thankful for health.
Let’s shift our focus to something else that is very relevant in each of our lives….our home. Notice that I didn’t say HOUSE, I intentionally said HOME. I consider myself very fortunate to have grown up in a small town in rural Pennsylvania. I lived in a small 3 bedroom house with my Mom, Dad, and sister. My parents both worked. I knew nothing about homelessness or hunger. We weren’t rich but we had everything we needed.
As an adult, I’ve always had a good job. I went to college. I work in healthcare. My children have always had a roof over their heads, clean clothes, and plenty of food. I’ve never worried about getting evicted or how I would pay my bills. I am keenly aware that I am very fortunate, some might even say I’m privileged.
As I write this blog from my apartment in Philadelphia, I can see 2 tents on the sidewalks below me. A woman named Cindy lives in one tent. Last month I stopped at her tent and offered her some groceries. She accepted them. She was kind, well-spoken, and surprisingly well dressed. She told me that she would be heading south to “camp” when the weather got cold. It’s now November. It will be 35 degrees tonight, but she is still here.
A man lives in the other tent. Cindy told me that he is a veteran and has PTSD. She didn’t know his name. He has a limp.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Cindy and the Veteran are just 2 of 13,199 homeless people in Pennsylvania. In January of 2019, it was estimated that there were 567,715 people experiencing homelessness in America, but that number did not account for the thousands of people who were staying with friends or family at the time of the count. These numbers include men, women, children, elderly, veterans, physically disabled, and mentally ill. In reality, there are probably more than 1 million Americans who are homeless today and those numbers don’t begin to address the challenges that COVID-19 is placing on our country.
“On any given night in America, more than half a million people are homeless”
National Alliance to End Homelessness
I think it is important to recognize how fortunate you are. Your home might not be a mansion. You might be renting a house, apartment, or room. You might be living with your parents or a roommate. You might be saving to buy or build your first house or your dream house. Whatever your situation is, if you are going to sleep tonight with a solid roof over your head, food in your belly, and you are physically safe, then you are more fortunate than many others.
If you would like to learn more about what you can do to help combat homelessness in America, I learned a lot from the National Alliance to End Homelessness website as well as The National Coalition For The Homeless.
Yes, indeed, we have much to be thankful for.
With gratitude –
Denise