It's Cold, and There are People Who are Invisible

This is a duplicated post of a post on Pam Hogeweide's blog. Ken Loyd and I met last November at an event here on Seattle's Eastside. I've blogged about him before. He's the one who said that our homeless friends feel two things, that they are invisible, and that they are defective. Why? That's how we treat them.

That cut me to the heart.

Anyway, here's the post from Pam's blog. There's a link to her blog here on my site as well. All I ask is that, in this Christmas season, you do something...anything.....it's cold out there, and NO ONE should be invisible.

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HOMEpdx: Are We Broke Yet?

Hey all, here is the latest email update from my friend Ken Loyd of HOMEpdx here in Portland, Oregon. Ken and his devoted team of HOMEpdx'ers have been loving on the beautiful, invisible folks who live outside, aka The Homeless. Below is Ken's financial strategy and report for how they meet practical needs of our city's poor.

If you live in Portland, consider making a one-time donation or becoming a regular contributor to this vital community. HOMEpdx is not an outreach or a mission. They are a group of people who both live indoors as well as outdoors. It is a missional church in the rawest sense.

If you don't live in Portland, I urge you to consider what ministries and charities in your area are helping the poorest of your city. Consider sending them a little note and a donation of any amount.

Hope everyone is doing well this holiday season. Portland is having some extraordinary winter weather as is much of the country. We are in the midst of a series of three winter storms in a one week period. My friend Erin blogged about why Portlanders have such a hard time driving when we get ice. Totally crazy!

Stay warm!

Are We Broke? You Bet!
by Ken Loyd

We've figured out how this whole nonprofit deal works: A) get money and, B) spend it as fast as we can on our friends without houses in downtown Portland.

We're good, no, read that, just about the best at doing the "B) thing". Socks, toiletries, bus tickets, cell phones, food, clothes, coffee, burritos, ID, rent,and a dozen other spending opportunities wave frantically for our attention every day.

The A) part, however… we're just about the worst at remembering to ask for money.

Wow! Who Would Have Thought this was a growth industry?

It's only taken me about a year and a half to figure out at least part of the problem: April Fools Day 2007 was our first day under the Hawthorne Bridge. We had ten of our outdoors friends show up. We gave them socks, hoodies, toiletries and whatever else we could dig up. Our food team prepared a banquet. We had a great time!

This October our last Sunday under the bridge (we're indoors for the winter) saw us doing the exact same thing, but this time we served over 200 people! We were averaging 100-200 each week. What fun that is! Our food team, as always, was more than equal to the task. Each food team buys the food, prepares, and serves our meals. We, the HOMEpdx core team do the rest. Our cost per person has increased by more than 50% due to higher prices and the fact that we give away a greater selection of necessary items. A 1500% increase in one and a half years shows our success at the "B" part of the formula— serving our friends who live outdoors. The "A"— getting money— 0% increase in income.

I'm pretty sure our balance sheet is out whack.

Common sense says, "Cut back."

However, increased need does not wait for increased income. We, at HOME will continue to love and serve our friends, no matter what. We must. Common sense, I believe, is overrated, if it turns a blind eye to our society's throwaways. (As I am writing this temperatures are dropping in the 20s. Our core team is larger, more talented and working harder than ever. We are seeing our friends truly helped. Could you just walk away from this if you were me?)

Here's where you can come in.
If you choose. You can send a one-time gift. Or, better yet, you can partner with us and let us know that you will be sending a specified monthly amount. With you as a part of a small but mighty team of partners, who knows—we could go from a daily losing scramble to doing some planning! What a novel idea for us. Our year end goal is to raise $20,000 to give HOMEpdx a strong foundation for 2009, which looks like a year where the needs of our friends will increase dramatically.

It's quite easy...you can even donate via PayPal from our homepdx.net web site.

And pray you ask?
Kathy Escobar, from Denver, who serves people who have next to nothing (one step up the food chain from us), says," Don't pray for us. Our prayer team is full. Send money." She was kidding. I think.

Whether you are able at this time and choose to give to our friends without houses through HOMEpdx or not, we'll still be friends.

Love,

Ken
HOMEpdx (a 501(c)3 nonprofit
3934 N Borthwick Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
http://homepdx.net

PS A FEW RANDOM 2008 NUMBERS:
Volunteers 150-200
Meals served: 5,000-7,500
Pairs of socks given out: 6,000-9,000
Burritos handed out: 2,500
Age of our outdoors friends: 14-65
%who live outdoors year around: 85-90
Value of our friends: Priceless
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Thanks for listening!

Brad