Save the Date: March 1st

It's coming together! March 1st at 12pm will be our first "community lunch" event. Rudy Salinas, Director of Community Outreach for PATH, will be our guest speaker as we discuss how to reach out to the homeless in our communities. I'm excited about the way this has come together so quickly.

Now, I need some help. The plan is to host a lunch event like this once every quarter. This first one will focus on outreach to the homeless. Future topics might include financial planning, education, parenting, book discussions... you tell me. Think about contacts and friends you have who are "experts" in a given area. Would they be willing to share some thoughts over lunch? The idea is to find things that interest a broad array of people in our area.

Secondly, the quarterly lunches need a name. Community Lunch is a little blah, I think, too generic. I'm toying with Neighbors Lunch. These will hopefully be broad enough to draw a crowd, but still foster an intimate, connective experience during which people will be reminded that neighborhoods and cities are made up of individuals who can become acquaintances, friends, and brothers and sisters.

So give it a shot. I need your help.

Let's Be Students

Last week I went to PATH's second Faith Matters luncheon.  I was on a mission this time.  We've had a slight rise in the number of homeless men stopping by lately.  While it's been great to have these guys stop in, borrow a couple bucks, trade names, and offer a blessing to them on their way, we're woefully unprepared to truly reach out to people who are wrestling with the unimaginable difficulties of addiction, hunger, mental illness, and outdoor city living day in and day out.  We can do our best to offer a friendly face and some temporary company, but we're not trained or equipped to go much beyond that.  I wanted to talk to someone at PATH about this to see if we could somehow get wiser to all this so that we can help a little more.

As usual, PATH has come through.

In the next month or so, we'll be scheduling a session during which one of PATH's outreach specialists will train us in the basics of interaction and assistance to people who are chronically homeless.  We'll learn about safety, respect, referral services, and other topics that will help us be more effective neighbors to this population.  I'm really excited about this opportunity.  Stay tuned for more details.