By Bonnie Gregg
editor of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty Newsletter
Covid-19 has provided lessons in poverty this year.
Many of us now know what it is like to lose your job or have hours cut, with rent due and bills to pay, and in some cases family members ill. Many who still have jobs work from home, shut in like urban cave dwellers. Those working in the care or service industries are exhausted. None of us feels safe. We wake up every morning knowing Covid-19 is out there threatening to make us sick or take our lives. We take precautions, arming ourselves with masks and keeping 6 ft apart. As the days go by, we feel more anxious, fatigued, and separated.
Those who have no shelter suffer much more, especially as winter approaches and the holidays near. In the past, when the holidays came around, those with houses have considered the plight of the poor, from the distance of their living rooms where logs burned on the fire, and family and friends gathered to celebrate a round of cheer. This year will be different. There may be a log on the fire, but most gatherings will be small, confined to the household. There will be more “zooming’ and talking to grandma on the phone. Online vendors will get our business. Our churches have stepped up with livestream services, but it isn’t the same. It turns out we really do need each other! We need our hugs and laughter. We are weary of Covid confinement. We need to give and receive love.
So, what are we to do? How can we replace this void of love in our lives? There actually are ways open to us. Warming shelters could use home cooked meals. Charities need blankets, sleeping bags/pads, warm clothes, particularly coats, sweaters, gloves and scarves, underwear and socks (always socks) -as well as personal hygiene items. Food banks and organizations feeding the hungry need canned goods, packaged pasta, cooking oil, peanut butter, beans and rice. Toy drives need gifts to delight and excite children’s imagination. Angel trees need gifts to make their wishes come true. And nothing fills us with more joy than seeing a child’s smiling face! The following organizations are among the partners in need of support as they work with the Interfaith Alliance in the effort to Alleviate Poverty:
Portland Homeless Family Solutions at http://www.pdxhfs.org/,
Mother and Child Education Center at http://momchildpdx.org/,
Start Making a Reader Today at https://smartreading.org/what-we-do/
Street Roots at https://www.streetroots.org/
Operation Nightwatch at https://www.operationnightwatch.org/
Bybee Lakes Hope Center at https://www.bybeelakeshopecenter.com/about-us/
Join, Connecting the Street to a Home at https://joinpdx.org/
Human Solutions https://humansolutions.org/about-us/
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