It has been an exciting, exhilarating, and exhausting last few weeks. As soon as the Mecklenburg County Government offered Steele Creek Outreach our own night at the Homeless Resource Center, I knew that it was an offer too good not to accept. However, I knew that we could not jump into this precipitously. I found it necessary to calculate every step, until we were ready to officially accept.
The first step in unveiling Operation Feed the Homeless: calling in a few reinforcements to help us get this up and running :) The response from my friends and the general public has been overwhelmingly positive, and I am truly blessed to have such a great support system. I truly do not deserve them!
Over the course of SCO's mission, I personally became increasingly aware of and desired to change the stereotypes surrounding our local homeless population. I visited shelters, performed independent studies, analyzed data - all in an effort to understand the misconceived perceptions that are placed on these individuals. After all of this research, endless reading, and near sleepless nights, etc., my final hypothesis will have to lie in the simplest of all statements...People attack what they do not understand. I wish that I had something brilliant to report, something potentially unfounded or some grand insight to offer, but unfortunately, I don't. The reality is that it's just that simple, society attacks anything in which it fails to understand.
With the mystery solved, I should feel relieved, right? Unfortunately, I just don't. Truthfully, I won't feel relieved until we witness real change, until we change the way these homeless individuals are perceived. I often get asked, "why?" Why have I chosen this cause? Well, because "What's right isn't always popular, and what's popular isn't always right. "
Lucky for us, we have the opportunity to bring about real change. This is the first official announcement that Operation Feed the Homeless has been launched, woo hoo!! In just a few short days, we have enlisted the help of Hands on Charlotte, Rira's Irish Pub, The Lifepointe Church, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances through good ole' facebook networking :) Additionally, we wrapped up an interview with the Lake Wylie Pilot last week, and it should be in next week's paper. I have one LAST (WOO HOO!!) meeting tomorrow at the Government building, and then it will be go time!! Afterwards, I plan to catch up on some much needed sleep, check in on some friends, and finally relax (yeah right, lol) at least for a few hours anyways :) The last few months have been rather chaotic/stressful/restless...but hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right :)
So to recap this long drawn out blog post: Operation Feed the Homeless is official! We will begin feeding and interacting with the homeless Uptown in the Homeless Resource Center, every Thursday evening from 6 to 8pm. Because this is a weekly commitment, there will be a reoccurring need for volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please email me @ nichole@steelecreekoutreach.org.
WE DID IT! Nearly two years of hard work has paid off, and I couldn't have done it without all of you :) A special thank you to Christina D. for helping out at Operation Mayday today!!
