Finding the Cure for Homelessness

Almost any given day on my way to and home from work I drive by multiply people standing at various intersections throughout the commute, claiming they are homeless and in need of money and at the end of their sign will say God bless. What is so difficult for me is I always want to know their story. Whether it is their history, their struggle, or even their plan to get out of their situation. I have always had a soft spot for these people.

I do believe that God does put these weights on our hearts to allow his Spirit to work through us by loving and caring for certain purposes. But I cannot help but think that this soft spot in my heart that hurts when I see someone begging was born through my own up bringing.

When I was 7 my mom past away with breast cancer. My dad worked three jobs (plumber by day, waiter by night, and referee in between the two) just to take care of me and my brother and sister. My dad was superman. However, within the first year after the passing of my mom, my dad thought what was best for my siblings and I was to have a mom figure in our life.

Then Ruth came into the picture. My dad fell in love so fast, not sure if it was Ruth he fell in love with or the idea of being a family once again but nonetheless he found what he was looking for. Or at least that is what he thought.

Getting married to Ruth was a huge change for all of us. My family is from Southern Ontario and so was Ruth but she moved to North Carolina and was a resident there and had been for a while. She had a good job and my dad was hopeful throughout the process that he too would be able to start fresh in beautiful North Carolina. Our first change was the scenery but the biggest change was our home.

It might sound funny but our home was more then a building, it was a family and we were leaving them behind. When my mom got diagnosed with cancer I remember my whole world being shaken. but as a 1st grader I noticed that because my mom needed help my family stepped up and helped. my siblings and I got so close to my cousins because all of my aunts and uncles took us in because a 5, 3, and 2-year-old can be a lot of work for a cancer patient. There was one week my dad was also so sick we thought pneumonia was going to take him. But my family stepped up and made us know that we were not alone. I love my family!

So rerouting to North Carolina was a big change I don't think we were prepared for. within two years the new marriage was not working out and everything my dad wanted was now a fantasy. So, Ruth and my dad went their separate ways but not without a bang.

My dads only option was to move back to Canada because one thing Ruth would not do is help him get a green card. So, we packed what we could and left. That very weekend Ruth had the rest of our stuff available for sale at her last-minute garage sale. We heard about if from our neighbours next door and we were devastated.

2 years was very important because one of the decisions that made it easier on my dad to pick up and head south was that the company he worked for offered to hold his position for 2 years during the transition just encase it didn't work out. So, when my dad was stuck between a rock and a hard place he felt like going back to Canada was now or never for him and for us.

At this garage sale Ruth tried to sell my dads tools. One of the drills had that company’s union tag on it which a patron pointed out to her. So, what she did was ship it to his work claimed he stole that drill as well as other things and tainted his reputation.

When we got back to Canada my dad got released from his job and we literally had nothing. But we did have our family. My Granny had a 2-bedroom house and took us in before we could say yes. For the next couple months my dad was caught up in all of these court dates and couldn't work to support us but it didn't matter because my Granny took care of us. Not once did I feel poor. Not once did I feel homeless and all of that is thanks to the love of my family and them providing a home that was more foundational then 4 walls and a roof could ever provide.

When I see these people at these intersections and on the street, I can't help but think, this could have been my dad, but it didn't have to because of our family. See these people are in desperate need of what money can't buy, family and community. Not money.

A great example in scripture that shares this truth is ironically the book of Ruth. Ruth was married into the family of Israel. For ten years Ruth was learning the Israel customs and fell in love with everything that came with that. But then Ruth lost her husband and brother and law. After the lose of her husband and now two sons, Naomi (Ruth's mother in law), decided to go back home since they were in a foreign land. Naomi told Ruth to go back to her people but Ruth responded boldly.

Ruth 1:16
But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God."

 Ruth and her mother in law were all each other had and they knew of the only thing they should do from there and that was to go back to the families home town where their extended family was.

I encourage you to finish the rest of the story because it shows you how you are never homeless when you have family and what better family then Gods family!

I want to encourage you to support your local community taking on this task and to jump in whether is it helping at a shelter or even first hand.

So I have the opportunity to raise money for a cause I really believe in and that is Hockey for the Homeless. This fundraiser is going towards homelessness in our local community. It would mean the world to me if you could support me in raising money for this great cause!

please click this link to donate today!

https://hhth.akaraisin.com/pledge/Participant/Home.aspx?seid=15900&mid=9&pid=4067436


Thank you and have a blessed day!