Since Be the Change in DC was founded, we’ve had a few goals. Those goals include educating the general public about homelessness and enabling the formerly homeless to help those who are homeless. On Sunday, January 16th, 2011, we made progress toward these goals with a successful event in which seven volunteers distributed 14 sleeping bags to the homeless.
By day, the corner of 14th and New York Avenue in downtown DC is bustling. The stores there, including an AT&T store and a Starbucks, are as busy as any. At night, the location transforms. Tucked under the awnings of some of the most familiar retail stores, more than a dozen homeless people can be found at night under blankets, even when the temperature dips below freezing. Be the Change in DC volunteers gave out 12 sleeping bags at this location alone.
Volunteering to help distribute sleeping bags to DC’s homeless can be intense: you come across not only a range of personalities on the street but you also experience a range of emotions yourself. One may think that a homeless person would not turn down a (free) sleeping bag. Interestingly, we were turned down by the first three people we approached. While this may seem discouraging, we were certain that when the bags were accepted, they would certainly be used. By 8pm (when the distribution occurred), shelters are mostly full and the people outside tend to stay out for the remainder of the night. It was about 35 degrees on Sunday night in DC. The very next night DC received about two inches of snow/sleet.
Fred, who is one of the participants in Be the Change in DC’s cell phone initiative and has slept out on the streets himself, volunteered to distribute sleeping bags with us. While distributing the bags, Fred asked a homeless man: “Why aren’t you in a shelter?
The man responded: "I don’t like the way they treat me in there. They don’t respect people and that’s not the way I was raised to treat people.”
That same homeless man in Rowland Park (18th and E St, NW) renewed hope in all of us with his confidence. After explaining how the security firm that he worked for went out of business due to competition and that he had been on the streets for a few weeks, he said: “When I get a job, and I know I will, then I’ll get an apartment.” It was encouraging that this man had confidence in his ability to find work, and as we walked away having given him our last bag, he said: “Thank you, thank you for the sleeping bag.”
Sometimes a simple “thank you” is enough and sometimes it’s more than enough.
By day, the corner of 14th and New York Avenue in downtown DC is bustling. The stores there, including an AT&T store and a Starbucks, are as busy as any. At night, the location transforms. Tucked under the awnings of some of the most familiar retail stores, more than a dozen homeless people can be found at night under blankets, even when the temperature dips below freezing. Be the Change in DC volunteers gave out 12 sleeping bags at this location alone.
Volunteering to help distribute sleeping bags to DC’s homeless can be intense: you come across not only a range of personalities on the street but you also experience a range of emotions yourself. One may think that a homeless person would not turn down a (free) sleeping bag. Interestingly, we were turned down by the first three people we approached. While this may seem discouraging, we were certain that when the bags were accepted, they would certainly be used. By 8pm (when the distribution occurred), shelters are mostly full and the people outside tend to stay out for the remainder of the night. It was about 35 degrees on Sunday night in DC. The very next night DC received about two inches of snow/sleet.
Fred, who is one of the participants in Be the Change in DC’s cell phone initiative and has slept out on the streets himself, volunteered to distribute sleeping bags with us. While distributing the bags, Fred asked a homeless man: “Why aren’t you in a shelter?
The man responded: "I don’t like the way they treat me in there. They don’t respect people and that’s not the way I was raised to treat people.”
That same homeless man in Rowland Park (18th and E St, NW) renewed hope in all of us with his confidence. After explaining how the security firm that he worked for went out of business due to competition and that he had been on the streets for a few weeks, he said: “When I get a job, and I know I will, then I’ll get an apartment.” It was encouraging that this man had confidence in his ability to find work, and as we walked away having given him our last bag, he said: “Thank you, thank you for the sleeping bag.”
Sometimes a simple “thank you” is enough and sometimes it’s more than enough.
