Preamble: Living near Portland, Oregon, we got a lotta bums. Homeless people they call 'em nowdays. Beggars. Growing up with em, its easy to block 'em out. "Don't give em anything, they'll just spend it on booze and drugs."
Recently my kids noticed these folks standing at intersections with signs, asking for money. My kids asked Sarah (my wife) why we weren't helping them, they were clearly asking for help, and I guess at some point, in raising our kids, we made the mistake of telling them you should help those that need help. So that kinda spurred this on, doing something as a family to help others, helping our kids understand charity and giving to those that have fallen on hard times.
So, with that in mind, we came up with this idea. In our research we came across Open House Ministries, and in conjunction with them, HOPE (Homeless Outreach Program Education). We visited the facilities, liked what we saw, and asked what their needs were. Open House and HOPE are right next to each other and share the same facilities. Open House Ministries minister to homeless families, they take them in, house them for a year, put them in a program that helps them get their degrees, work with Clark Community College (my alma mater, class of '98). Their facilities include a bike shop, coffee shop and thrift store that employ residents of Open House, and once they're through the program Open House Ministries helps them transition to the next step up in housing. Its pretty encouraging and makes a big impact on the Vancouver area that I live in.
In talking with Open House, they recommended we also talk to HOPE, which is located in their facilities. HOPE reaches out to the homeless youth in our community. Sarah has the numbers, but they currently have something like 800 youth in their program, providing tutoring, school materials and even living materials like sleeping bags that young people need and might not have access to.
So, once the money was raised, once the goal was set on what was needed, we purchased locally and online and accumulated a bunch of stuff that took up my entire studio. Talk about a huge hassle. But hey, its for a good cause so I put up with it. I'm a saint, i know, i know. really i'm just taking precautions in case i end up homeless someday.
So, with that all in mind, we began to put it into action. First, Sarah made a trip first to Fred Meyers (local food conglomerate) and purchased some goods, canned food and diapers and whatnot, just as kinda a test run with the kids.
then today we made the main run, two vans loaded to the gills with necessities and life's little luxuries that warm peoples hearts.
pictures include: the items in question, the unloading, the family, the dropoff. thanks to my red headed sister Andrea and my dad Steve Stout who are always both ready to lend a hand. my main gift is supervising, so its nice to have people with actual moving skills and 'muscle tone' to do the dirty work. i didn't get this body by abusing it, as i like to tell sarah.
lastly, heres an item list that includes what we delivered. it doesn't include the first delivery of about 500 bucks in grocery items, but it is a nice list of what some of the needs are of homeless shelters, especially homeless youth.
in conclusion, hopefully i gave a good accounting of this particular fundraiser and please email me with any questions or concerns if i left anything out. i'll have sarah read this and might update it, if i misspoke or misrepresented any factoids.
thanks again - tyler and the stouts
ps - sarah had some kids helping with the grocery shopping, i do not have 11 kids.
