And they are right under our noses!
I just released my debut novel, Painted Windows, which is about a homeless teen searching for a place to belong. While Ruby is a fictional character, she is based on very real people, and many of those people are right in our community! And many people are clueless that homeless exist in their small communities.
When I created my cover for Painted Windows, the picture of the window actually came from an abandoned house owned by my cousin. You'll see in the right picture the leftover signs of homeless who have sheltered in the house--a pile of socks and other left-behind articles of clothes! This old home has provided a roof and walls to shield many homeless persons from the rain and wind.
People...I have been to the homeless shelters in the Morehead, Kentucky area. Yes, I personally visited them and found them to be wonderful facilities that offer their homeless residents real services that help to get them either re-established with family or on their feet and into housing and jobs.
I discussed Mountain Haven--the youth emergency homeless shelter--in a previous blog. However, one thing I learned about our adult homeless shelter, Gateway House
(https://www.gatewayhouseky.org), is it is just that...an adult homeless shelter. You have to be 18 years of age and have a photo identification to fill out an application. One caveat is that they do accept families with children, which is a blessing! And, both Mountain Haven and Gateway House
serve the homeless in a multi-county area! That means
someone homeless in Menifee or Montgomery county must find a way to Morehead to apply to the shelter!
But what happens if a homeless person doesn't have or lost their identification? Where do they go? What if they have a past that continues to piggy-back on their shoulders? Well...look around folks! The homeless in rural Kentucky are hidden and truly sometimes right under our noses. You'll find them in out-buildings, abandoned houses, in a tent under a bridge, or you might even stumble into your own barn one morning to find one of your bales of straw broken open and an old quilt laid over it! True story! And, it is beginning to get cold out. The homeless must find ways to stay warm in sometimes single-digit temperatures, and at times, even colder weather. Think: blankets, coats, socks, hats, sleeping bags. Have an tent you're no longer using? These are all things that help a homeless person combat the rain, the snow, and the cold. Oh, you say it was a raccoon or dog that broke into that trash bag in your garbage? You might want to think again...
As we approach the holiday season, which is historically a time of giving and charity, you might want to reconsider some of your giving. Personally, several years ago, my husband and I quit giving each other gifts, and instead we take the money we would have spent on each other (to get something we really and truly did not need) and we make a donation(s) to one of the local charities. We try to pick a different one each year, hopefully getting the 'neediest' (if there is such a thing)! This year we have felt particularly blessed, so we have passed our blessings on to others!
So, as you hang your stockings by the chimney with care, remember--the only stockings our homeless truly need are the ones they can put on their feet to keep their little piggies warm and from frostbite!!
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