From Grief to Action: How a Mother’s Loss Sparked a Movement to Help the Homeless​

When our daughter Jena died from an accidental drug overdose 7 years ago, I was awakened to the Homeless world and all its intricacies. While she was deep in her addiction, it would be months before we would hear from her or have her resurface. I saw homeless people as someone who didn’t care or didn’t want to try, but that was not who our daughter was. Drug addiction takes away all your reasoning and your ability to be consistent. Only a percentage of homeless people are drug addicts. Think about where you are financially? Would it take missing 1 paycheck or 2 paychecks to topple your empire. Being homeless is just that, homeless. It wasn’t until September of this year when I was sitting in an ARP class, “addiction recovery program”, help for spouses and families of those in recovery, that I said out loud, “I see homeless people differently, and I help them”. Did I really? Sure, I gave them money at the intersection, but what else? I drove past them on the side of the street all the time. Right after I had said this, I received an impression, that I could do more! I needed to do more! Could I help them all? No. I knew I could help 100 each week, and that’s where my half of the idea started for this movement.