#7

This morning was our 5th breakfast for the community and they were welcomed to bacon and eggs, biscuits, fresh fruit and plenty of hugs and handshakes to go around.
A couple who volunteered last week spoke to their family and asked them to reach out to support us.That conversation resulted in phone calls made to employees to clean out there closets and donate.
Last week we had 3 pairs of shoes, 1 or 2 shirts, a couple pairs of pants, and  a few socks . This week we had 2 shelves full of shoes ,lots of pants and shirts new underwear and socks. THAT is the power of networking,word of mouth and the favor of God.
That was the good news now here is what pissed me off! The guys I met today need there story told and that's all they want is someone to listen to their story. This is Jame's story.
I met James who drove here from Alabama after the tornado's destroyed his house. When he got down here his car broke down, so without money to fix it or money to get it out of impound he just donated it .
He got a bed at the shelter and now he is #7. Not James the human being, just #7.  James was woken up at 5:00 am this morning along with all the other men who were told to pack up and take all their belongings with them and vacate the premises. Now James has never been in this situation before he is scared, he doesn't know where to go or how to get help. After 5days at the shelter you have to pay $7.00 a night to stay there and you have to check in at 7 and 12 or you will loose your bed and are not allowed to recover your personal property. $7.00 really? HELLO jobless, poor, and homeless.That is why you see most of the guys panhandling trying to get money to stay in the shelter. Are you angry yet? I hope so bc I'm just getting started.
James and a few other men arrived this morning with backpacks on and suitcase in tow. Imagine lugging that around all day with no where to go. As my friend John Slowdeck would say "What a big pile of suck that is!" If to many of them got to the library yes the PUBLIC library, they kick everyone out which is a little thing I like to call !@$# up!(sorry) Profiling , discrimination,  call it what you want but it kind of sounds like your borderline on infringing upon some basic human rights. I could be wrong  , just sayin!
Now here is the kicker damn near everyone that came this morning is able to work and actively wanting to look for work. They don't have the correct information they need to get the assistance they need which is  Internet access and a phone. Why is that so complicated? Well I guess you can't complain about the problem if your not willing to be part of the solution so by next week that is going to change. My awesome friends  are  working on that so hopefully by next week we can help in that area as well.
James has a TWIC card( Transportation Workers Identification Card) which is something you have to have to work offshore. He has every certification you can imagine , a boat captains licence , he has more experience than anyone I've met in his situation . He has never been unemployed and he can't find a job and here is why.
James has no phone , no address, no access to computers to look for a job and if he applies , no one has anyway of getting in touch with him. If he goes to look he needs money for bus fair but remember he has to be back to check in at the shelter or he  looses his spot. Lets say he has bus fair than he is still stuck carrying his backpack and towing his luggage wherever he goes bc if he leaves it at the shelter and isn't back on time he looses all his stuff. Maybe its just me but its almost as if the shelter system is designed to KEEP THEM HOMELESS! Something as simple as bus fair or the cost of a TWIC card, (which is about $100.00) , and the use of a phone, could get these guys working and on the road to housing.
Whats frustrating is the fact that  it is so do able. The system needs to be reworked and fixed bc its not working. James told me today that he didn't know how much more he could take and that he didn't want to start making bad decisions but that he can see why so many start drinking and doing drugs. "You feel hopeless and lost" he said. If we can help people before it gets to that ,than we've won half the battle.
I am so sick of people telling me "You can't save everybody. " Thank God Jesus didn't feel that way.

Jesus is the hope and the love that orchestrates what we do and God is the number one reason we do what we do. If there is anything I could say to James to encourage him , I want him to know more than anything that #1 LOVES #7.