Recently I went to a clothing store sponsored by Metropolitan ministries to deliver clothes donated by an organization I volunteer for. As I pulled up at 7am, I was amazed at the people I saw outside.
There were young and old, well dressed and not, women, children, teens and men. There were people from all walks of life. As I was making my delivery I was fascinated by these people and I wanted to know how did they get here? Often we believe its of there own doing, often we judge people but what I found out that day was something I suspected to be the truth. The truth is there is a new homeless in our society.
As I stood outside waiting to get in, I asked a small group of people how did they get here? There was a woman here 20's, decently dressed with car keys, a black man with a bike and 2 teenagers. As we started talking, the woman said she lost here job 2 years ago and works part time to support her children but needs nicer clothes to go on job interviews. The teens said they became homeless when their parents lost their place to live and the other gentlemen said he was a war veteran who cant work but his retirement check doesn't cover clothes.
No matter how these people got there, I was amazed at peoples honesty, these individuals reminded me of my neighbors, of my friends, of me. There were over 50 people of all walks of life there that day, all looking for clothes to go on job interviews. That is the service the Ministries offers and how grateful those people are for any gift they can get.
I know that there is a thing happening in America, people lose their jobs and eventually lose everything. These are the new homeless. The statistics are that there are 10,000 new homeless in in Tampa bay the last decade and many are families.
I hope that we all have compassion and not judgement, for we never know how someone got where they are.
What I am greaful for? The ability to have compassion.
What are you greatful for?
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