Youth in Alabama in the cities of Huntsville and Birmingham are engaged in providing meals to the homeless on an ongoing monthly basis. These activities range from preparing and packaging healthy vegetarian meals in homes and handing them to homeless individuals near the street at Manna House, to more conventional methods, including bringing prepared meals to a homeless shelter, serving them, and cleaning the dining areas in the facility afterwards. Depending on the meal, three to six trays of main course items are required, along with fruits, desserts, and drinks.

One such venue where these opportunities are offered is the Downtown Rescue Mission (DRM) of Huntsville, Alabama. Volunteers are required to complete a background check as well as a two-hour orientation to familiarize themselves with the facility and its guidelines. Three meals are served daily in the two shelters of the DRM, one for women and children and the other for men. Approximately five volunteers are required for each one-hour shift. Signing up to cover a shift is easy, as the DRM uses Volunteer Hub software which allows volunteers to create accounts.

The goal of the DRM is to house approximately 150 homeless individuals who have a desire to earn a living and follow Christian principles in order to achieve this. Meals are preceded by sermons presented by in-house ministers. Youth in Alabama serve meals to the homeless alongside facility staff and enterprising homeless individuals who are intent on giving back. The greatest lessons learned during these undertakings have been witnessing the immense gratitude expressed by these homeless individuals for both food and assistance, and also their humility.

Contact Information: Raja Ekambaram (256) 566-5220

Houston, like other large cities in America, has many community shelters for its most displaced citizens. But there are far more needy people than can be taken in by the shelters, and some inevitably get left out to fend for themselves. Unfortunately for these souls, the only shelter from the equally unforgiving scorching sun and torrential downpours comes in the form of overpasses. It is under these bridges in the not-yet-gentrified parts of Houston that a group of young adults, inspired by the scope of various humanitarian projects being undertaken around the world, decided to start spreading their love.

They would gather at one of their places on a Sunday morning with the raw ingredients to prepare 100+ sandwich lunches, and assemble themselves in a minivan – their beloved “love mobile” as they liked to call it – to disperse their small gifts of lunch and love throughout the city. As they would drive throughout the city following their inner GPS, they would find pockets of desperation and eyes go from a puzzled “Why are they pulling in here?” look to eyes which lit up when they realized there was finally a respite to their hunger for food and humanity.

Over a few months of this, they started opening up to and became more attuned to the needs of their fellow man. “We can’t just hand out the sandwiches, juice, and crackers and be content with a ‘Hello’ or ‘God Bless’ – thought the group – but let’s actually put ourselves in their world and ask them with disarming smiles, ‘How else can we help you?’ or ‘What do you need most?’” They got their answers very quickly- drinking water and sanitary supplies. In the subsequent months, the group made sure to include these items along with their usual love-infused sandwich lunches in their handouts. They would meet people spanning a variety of backgrounds and mindsets. Some would thank the group but maintain, “Hope we don’t have to see you next time,” implying that they were keeping a positive mind about their current plight being nothing more than a short-term speed bump. Others seemed broken and beaten by turbulent times saying, “For us, this is the only way we live.” They would encounter situations when the needy outnumbered the packages, but the ones who realized they could bear a greater burden calmly gave back their share saying, “We are needy but not greedy.” Over time, it became more and more apparent to our “squadron of love” that these acts of giving back were every bit for their sake, their own journey of transformation, as it was for the beneficiaries.

Indeed, love is like a mirror- the power of love, when reciprocated, doesn’t diminish; rather, it multiplies. When God places beacons of love amongst the needy, the solace for those giving is not just in feeling inspired and optimistic. Sure that may be a by-product, but there is much more taking place on a deeper level here. More so, it is a call: to refill all our hearts; to untemper our collective urge to be able to give again, and share again, and truly love again; to shine our collective light even brighter.

For more information about the Houston Homeless Feeding email: [email protected]

The Street to Stability (S2S) project was seeded by Sathya Sai Baba in a Bay Area Discourse to young adults (ages 16–45) in 2016. Hence, the youth’s mission became: eradicate homelessness for youth ages 16–24 and children ages 6–16, with its initial and current focus to help homeless teens.

Most homeless youth and/or children in America experience emotional and mental upheaval, especially while living on the streets or moving from couch to couch in various homes, temporarily out of sight of predators. Their emotional state becomes delicate and defensive, making it harder for them to enter mainstream society.

The Street to Stability team supports, nurtures and mentors these youth constantly from their initial meeting until they are deemed stable. They encourage homeless youth who are interested in obtaining a job, or have a job and need a home, in participating in the “Path to Stability.” This means team members accompany the teen to connect with existing agencies that offer job training, assist with creating resumes, and follow-up with all involved agencies or work environments September 2018 regarding their client’s progress. As Swami said, “It’s not good enough just to keep doing temporary solutions; we must find a permanent solution.”

The S2S youth volunteers, in only two years, have been building a solid foundation and expertise in understanding and gaining the trust of homeless teens. To date, some of their activities include:

How a Service Project is Born

One day I was talking to the director of Special populations (part of Parks & Recreation) at a meeting and she proceeded to tell me how the parents of special needs children are an ignored group of people! Well, that struck a chord with me. “What do you mean”, I said. She replied, “These parents are so overwhelmed with daily, hourly and at times minute by minute care for these children they need a break!”

Out of that was born was an idea to combine a personal love for soccer and finding an opportunity to help. An idea which most people have not considered. Thus began the Soccer Clinic for Special Needs Children which is held periodically based on the children and field availability. In the city Of Acworth, Georgia they have constructed a special field for these children. A field designed and built for their comfort and use. Since 2009, this service group has conducted 2-3 soccer clinics per year.

The group spends one hour teaching a progression method of soccer skills. They use only nerf balls for safety. The hour ends with a game where these soccer skills are implemented. Every goal, every save and every awesome move they make is celebrated. In between each skill set there are water breaks when the children go and visit with their parents for a few minutes. Many volunteers came to help and support these soccer clinics. Then other ideas were born to better serve the families.
Afterward, pizzas are provided and everyone visits and enjoys the food and friendships with the children and parents, siblings, grandparents, caregivers and others who join in the fun. And just before the children leave they are offered gift bags that include toys, nerf soccer balls and restaurant gift cards, hotel night stays for the family to enjoy. Parents are full of gratitude that someone would do this for them. This soccer clinic is conducted through, With Pure Love a 501 © 3 Non-Profit organization.

-RJ Patel

For more information email: [email protected]