“Sandwiches are not enough – people need HOUSING, JOBS, and HEALTH SERVICES!”

Meeting Angela changed me. I meet Angela under a bridge in Atlanta. You don’t have to be a social worker or medical professional to know Angela is dying under that bridge. I as with a church group and I turned to them and asked “what are you doing to help her?”. They responded “we are giving her sandwiches”. It was the moment I realized sandwiches are not enough. People need HOUSING, JOBS, and HEALTH SERVICES. See, up until the moment I met Angela I thought whatever you can do to help homeless people do it. If all you can do is bake chocolate chip cookies than bake as many as you can and hand the cookies out. Angela changed me!

I was in Tompkins Square Park in New York City for 2 hours. During those 2 hours 5 churches came and fed the same people. If I stayed all day I would be 20 churches fed the same people in the same park. Only a few blocks down the street is the Bowery Rescue Mission. The mission is also a faith-based org so it’s the same Jesus! If those churches took the food to the mission, the mission could have saved their food budget on housing and jobs.

Poverty and homelessness is too big for any one organization to fight alone. We MUST work together and coordinate our efforts if we are ever going to have any real impact.

A year later I went and looked for Angela. Other homeless people told me she was still there living in the same spot under that bridge. I did not connect with her, but knowing in a year’s time homeless services could not help this woman get off the streets broke my heart.

Please take a moment to hear Angela’s story here or on the site InvisiblePeople.tv, then forward Angela’s video to everyone you know with the words “Sandwiches are not enough – people need HOUSING, JOBS, and HEALTH SERVICES!”  Be sure to share her video using the Like, Tweet and Share buttons below.