According to the Massachusetts coalition for the homeless, the amount of people experiencing homelessness or unstable housing situations remains high. The Massachusetts homeless assessment report submitted to Congress in Jan 2017 put the number at 17,565. More than 11,000 are families with children and between 800-1100 are Veterans. (It should be noted that families are the fastest growing group within the homeless population, comprising 40% nationally.)
The reasons for homelessness are complicated and include rising house costs, single family income with low wages, social issues that include mental health issues, drug abuse, mental or physical disabilities, and effectiveness of assistance programs and mental health access.
Most of us are sensitive to this issue and want to help, but between our work life, family life, expenses and lack of time in the day we are at a loss as far as what we can do. Some of us feel like we can help out a little, but our efforts may seem too trivial and we don’t act on them because we don’t feel it is adequate. To this, I say, do it anyway. Helping others doesn’t demand perfection, just a willingness to do good. On Wednesday July 11th from 10-11:30, we will be assembling brown bag lunches for the homeless at Action Medicine. All are welcome to come and assist, please call to let us know if you are interested.
To quote the great doctor we all grew up with, Dr. Seuss: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
-Brooke Rieth
