I hope that you’ve been enjoying the great weather, festivals, and events of spring! It’s always a great time of year in the ATL. Because spring brings us a sense of new beginnings, your gifts and prayers for SafeHouse have brought new beginnings to many who we serve. Thank you so much.

    New beginnings don’t always mean a new house or a new car or a higher paying job. While those things are good, we see new beginnings a little differently. New beginnings at SHO are actually much smaller than that, more subtle.

    For instance one of ‘our guys’ as we fondly say, who comes to us for his mail, possible job opportunities, and dinner at the Night Impact Services had a small, subtle new beginning that has changed his life. Stanley had worked as a handy man and was doing pretty well prior to being one of ‘our guys’.

   However, he was laid off his job and to quote him: ‘found himself in a bad way.’ Losing his livelihood and not being able to replace the income, lead him to losing his home. And that lead Stanley to homelessness.

   Stanley’s a great guy who fell into some bad times- all he needed was a hand-up to get back up. One afternoon he mentioned to Joe McCutchen that he had been soliciting handy man type business and had gotten a few jobs. His biggest hurdle, though, was that many people asked for a business card and he didn’t have one.

   ‘I think I can create a business card for you. My wife likes to do things like that’ said Joe. But life gets busy and it slipped Joe’s mind to mention it to Judy. Finally he did remember and they printed out the cards on business card stock they already had.

  Joe brought them in the next day. They looked really good- Judy had found tool belt clip art  she incorporated  that gave it a very professional look.

  Stanley came in for his mail that day so Joe gave him the cards. He was beyond grateful- he was almost moved to no words. ‘These are beautiful! They look professional. Thank you, thank you Joe. This means so much to me. This is gonna help me so much. Thank you!’

  What Joe had thought of as a little project, was a life changer for Stanley. Homemade business cards printed on office supply store business card stock. It was huge. It was bigger than huge.

  Joe was retelling the story to staff and remarking how it seemed so insignificant at first- making up some business cards- at least until he saw Stanley’s reaction. Hearing the story, Camille Smith said, ‘the guy with the business cards! I was getting in my car yesterday after work and this guy came up to me, showed me the cards and said isn’t this the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?’

  ‘They’re beautiful’ she answered him- not really knowing why he was so excited about business cards. At least not until she heard Joe tell the story.

  Little helps, little hand-ups, can change somebody’s world. Even though Joe is regarded as a veteran in this type ministry, he had forgotten how little it takes to make a difference. Camille- new to SHO, was able to see firsthand what we try to explain to others.

  Your gift of any amount is a blessing. And when others join and give too it’s- well- huge, bigger than huge.

  Thank you for supporting the life changing mission of SHO. Your gifts impacts lives. Lives who you may not ever know- but lives that have changed.

   In fact:

$50 a month, impacts 12 lives annually.

$125 a month impacts 30 lives annually or

$250 a month impacts 50 lives annually.

    It is because of your monthly gift that we can add more mentors and mentees to our program or help more teen parents graduate from high school. And it’s because of your monthly gift that we are able to employ great people like Joe McCutchen who know that even the smallest of things are game changers.

   When you partner with us by sending a monthly gift, we can guarantee there’s an impact. We can guarantee that you will be a game changer for someone. And don’t you want to be?

   From the city,

President/founder

SafeHouse Outreach

Hello friends of SafeHouse Outreach,

     Blessings to you and your family! First of all, thank you for your prayers and support for all we do. Since January, 46 women made appointments with SHO seeking assistance with housing, food stamps, and diapers.

     Eight individuals raised their own funding totaling $445 to receive Furniture Bank vouchers for their homes. Our critical needs eyeglasses program provided 120 individuals with prescription eyewear and 59 teen parents received Life Skills and Parent Education classes.

     We’ve been busy! Thanks to your generosity, so many people have been blessed. We so wish we could capture the emotion and thankfulness of each person as they watch their lives move forward each day.

     Recently at our Urban Gala, we heard from so many volunteers who told us how their lives were blessed when they were helping someone. There’s just something about helping others that heals us at the same time.

     And never is this more apparent than with those we help. Here- I’ll explain. SHO Urban Nation Director Joe McCutchen directs the volunteers who come as groups; youth groups, college groups , small groups, companies, etc. He was bringing one such group to a homeless community that lives under a series of bridges in the center of downtown.

     It was a planned outreach- Joe takes groups to this area often to offer help so he wasn’t a stranger. The group had prepared lunches and brought socks with them and had been trained in the art of outreach listening. They were to go there and listen to those who most of the time are unheard; to offer compassion and to say prayers with them if asked.

     Joe has earned this obscure community’s trust and so when he and the group arrived, they were welcomed. He introduced the newcomers and asked, ‘would it be alright if we started with a prayer?’ Forming a circle, everyone joined hands and bowed their heads.

     Joe, expecting he would begin the prayer, stopped when he realized that someone was already praying.  Then he noticed that the person saying the prayer wasn’t from the group or their youth leaders; it was one of the guys who lived in the community; the very community who Joe and the group had come ‘to help’.

     And so, the seemingly extreme playing field was leveled. The impact on the youth was profound. But it seems the impact on the community even more so. This is the circle of compassion- when you are in desperate need of compassion; you understand what it means to receive it. And as natural as inhale, exhale; once you receive it, you turn around and give it.

     This community didn’t consider where these youth came from, what they drove or what kind of house they lived in. It wasn’t about equaling finances- it was about the need for compassion. They knew that if they needed understanding and love no matter what had occurred in their life; one of these youth probably did too

   And so without hesitation, they offered what they could give to each young person- a prayer. Because after all; a gift is given out of who you are not what you have.

     Please join us at SHO- where the playing field is level. Every day and night, you don’t know if you’re rubbing shoulders with a person of great means or a person of no means- but you know you’re rubbings shoulders with a person. That is the beginning of compassion.

     We welcome your time, treasure, and talent- just watch, those you help will help you- when you least expect it.

      From the city,

                This is first year I can ever remember when spring came in January! So here we are in March and it feels like June weather- crazy! I hope that you are yours are enjoying the great weather though. It may be early but it is welcomed none the less.

                And so with spring comes Spring Break for elementary, middle and high schools and colleges as well. For several years now, colleges have scheduled their spring break trips with SHO. It’s called Alternative Spring Break. Instead of a week of soaking up the sun and lazing around, they book a trip to SafeHouse for serving and giving back.

                Spring Break with a purpose. It’s not all work though- we house the students in dorm rooms at the downtown location. That means that they are walking distance to Underground Atlanta, Centennial Park, GA Aquarium, The Coca-Cola Museum and all the great restaurants.

                But during their trip they also feed the homeless, have work projects at SHO and other non-profits, and participate in community outreaches in poor neighborhoods.

                What we have found is that the students might come to SHO because of a college planned trip but they soon return with youth groups and other college groups as well; people in their circle of influence. The exact reach we may never really know.

                We did hear a story of a student from Auburn University who came on an Alternative Spring Break. Then she brought a small group that she was part of back to SHO. Then she told her church in Alabama about short term mission trips and they came. 

                The church leadership asked her to speak to a younger group in her church about SafeHouse. So she and a friend went to the Sunday school class and enthusiastically told the kids about what they did at SafeHouse. They told them about talking with the homeless in the park in downtown Atlanta. Explained about making pancake breakfast for people who didn’t have breakfast.  And told them about the children they had met who even though they were very poor, loved to throw balls and jump rope and have their faces painted- just like they did.

                When you speak to young children about any important issue in life, you never really know if they get it or if you’ve made an impact. So many times the only thing a young person grabs onto when telling them about a pancake breakfast for the homeless is the part about making pancakes.

                Awhile back, a local church’s group of 10 year old boys comes to SafeHouse one evening to feed the homeless. They were typical boys- enormous energy, loud, running up and down the stairs- everything that makes a Night Impact Service great. Earlier that day, a grocery store had donated day-old cakes to us. We had devil’s food cake, birthday cakes, every kind of cake piled in the kitchen.

                After dinner had been served, the leader sent the boys upstairs to bring the cakes down so that they could be served for dessert. One young boy, bounding down the stairs holding a huge chocolate cake says ‘Wow! Chocolate cake! I wish I was homeless.’

                He said that not because he truly understood homelessness but because he had this awesome looking cake in his hands- he was looking at the cake not at the recipient of the cake. He knew how awesome it would be to get chocolate cake. And to him, that made the recipients special. He got it.

                So when I tell you what the reaction was to the Auburn student talking to the young kids about SafeHouse, you’ll understand why it made such a huge impact on us:

                After the class a young girl said to her Sunday school teacher:  ‘When I grow up, I want to be a volunteer at SafeHouse.’

                This little girl understood serving before she had served. It’s the excitement of having in your possession an entire chocolate cake and then giving it to someone else. Chocolate cake giving means that your compassion has grown. It’s the point of intersection where your excitement of giving and the person’s excitement of receiving come together at one moment.

                And just as exciting- communicating that feeling to someone else.

               Come to SHO for chocolate cake giving- and then pay it forward by inspiring someone else.

From the city,

Founder/President

Celebrating 30 years

Hello friends and partners,

    I hope that this month, you and yours will be blessed with love and blessed to give love. Being able to give love is not always the easy thing to do though. Whether it’s a dispute in your family or between you and a friend, sometimes it’s just easier to turn your head or to be ‘mad’.

    I want to tell you a story of someone who is a difficult person to love. His name is Billy. If you’ve been at SafeHouse almost any given day in the last 4 or 5 years, you might have met him. 

   Billy was the consummate hustler. He tried to hustle  volunteers, staff, advisory council members, and even his peers. UrbanDictionary.com says the definition of hustler is: ‘someone who knows how to get money from others; someone who makes money in any way they can/want; a person who sells you something you don’t need.’

   That would be Billy. He came around SHO because he really did believe in what we do- provide a hand-up not a hand-out. We, being SHO staff, would allow Billy to wash our cars for $5. It was a respectable way for him to earn some money but it soon digressed to washing our cars before asking and saying that someone else had approved it. Hustling. 

   He would get odd jobs from time to time: he worked for a sandwich shop handing out flyers, he worked for a local hamburger place cleaning the kitchen. But it never lasted very long.

   And he told us tall tales like he was part of a class action suit that would bring him in to millions- which of course he would give most of to SHO. Or he shined the shoes of a well known Atlanta athlete. While we didn’t know if any of that was true- we did know that he had multiple health issues- drug addiction and cancer being among them.

   Billy began to sleep in front of our gate every night. People would have to walk around him in the morning on the way to their offices. It wasn’t a good image. We asked him to not to sleep in front of our building. And so he carefully moved his bedding to just past our property line on the sidewalk. At one point, he moved his belongings across the street.

   While he was off our property, he made sure we were still in sight. He felt safe here. Even though we weren’t fans of his piles of blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows on the sidewalk, we knew it was all he had.

   Then one day, after years of listening to our offers of help, saying he understood how important a hand up was, and having those momentary bouts of wanting to be ‘better’ – he agreed to go to a rehab in Tampa, Florida. We held our breath. It was the end of the week and he couldn’t get in until Monday. Would he hold it together until then? 

   But he showed up Monday afternoon, clean, dressed well and determined to change his life. Before he left he told us that he never drank or did drugs until after his children were grown and in college. ‘His mama told him to take care of his family’. And he did but one night, he was hanging out with his cousin who asked him to ‘try something.’ It was crack.

    For almost 10 years, he was a functioning crack addict. He could work and use- but like all addicts know- it eventually took over. He lost everything. And then for over 8 years, he was on the streets.

   He said about going to rehab, ‘I’m fighting for me. I’ve got to win. I don’t want to go, really. But that’s my battle. I’ve got to beat me this time.’

   So on a Monday evening this February, we put him on a bus to Tampa. So far, he’s doing well. He’s had some treatment for his cancer and he’s remaining clean and sober.

   We’ve sent others to rehab before. And had the same hope that they would find freedom and peace from the substance that holds their life so tightly. But this time was different. This was Billy. We were all invested in Billy. He annoyed us, tried to scam us, we’d have staff meetings about his latest antics, but we loved him. We worried about him when the temperature dropped or when we didn’t see him for awhile.

   He became an integral part of the fabric of SHO. Like that annoying little brother who you love all the time, but want to go away so much of the time.

   Loving Billy while he was with us wasn’t always easy. But the definition of love is not: doing the easy thing. It’s patient when you don’t want to be, it’s kind when you want to be upset, it gives someone a chance over and over again.

   This year, we’re asking the question: RU ATL |Able To Love|? SHO is celebrating 30 years of loving on the poor and the outcasts in the city of Atlanta. Thank you for being ATL.

From the city,

    I hope that you and yours rang in the New Year with promise and hope for a better year than the one before!

     This is that time of year when so many people make resolutions- that list of things to accomplish over the next year.  One we always hear is ‘I’m going to get more involved with SHO this year!’ or ‘I’m really going to give back more this year!’

     And we love that. Whether you volunteer with SHO or somewhere else- stay committed to that resolution this year to serve others. I’m sure we all can say that we have others:

• Save more money
• Eat better
• Lose weight
• Talk with family more
• Buy a house
• Buy a dog

  TheFreeDictionary.com defines resolution this way:

Are you a natural giver?

Dear Friends and Partners,

       Here it is November already. And, no, your newsletter wasn’t lost in the mail last month. We simply didn’t have enough funds to print and mail it. It was posted on the website: www.safehouseoutreach.org and those on our e-list received it as well. (to be put on the e-list, go to the website and sign up- it’s that’s simple)

       We know that we’re not the only place where the economy issues have hit hard. For many of you, just giving to SafeHouse is a sacrifice for the same reason.

      So, thank you, for your prayers and for your gifts for SafeHouse even when it might have been difficult. Please know that when you give, sometimes even out of your own need, you will be blessed. Giving is a good thing for the receiver and the giver as well.  And this being the Thanksgiving month, I wanted to tell you a couple of stories about giving.

      Some people are just natural givers. When our youngest daughters were little, we would take them to a fast food place for kids’ meals. They loved those meals- mostly because of the little toy that came with it. That cheap plastic toy might as well have been a pony. It was a valuable commodity to both of them.

    One time when we treated the girls to one of these kid’s meals, something else happened. Both pulled that prized ‘toy’ out of their boxes and then without warning, one of our daughters got up, walked across the restaurant and gave the toy to a child who was eating with his mom. She came back empty handed and started on her hamburger-ketchup only.

    Kind of amazed we asked, ‘Why did you do that?’

    ‘Because he didn’t get one,’ was her only answer.

    Yes, she did have other toys at home, but she knew that this was considered a special treat- we didn’t buy kids meals very often which made the toy even more prized. But she’s a giver- she just does that.

    That’s pure giving. Something we all strive for. That ability to give as an impulse, not something we’ve carefully thought through. Sometimes though, don’t we think that we can give better when we have more to give? Well, no- wrong.

   Giving isn’t about what you have- it’s about what you depart with. One afternoon, Dacia was leaving SafeHouse and Carmen, a regular at SHO, said hello to her. She noticed a really unique handcrafted metal cross necklace on Carmen. ‘Wow! That’s beautiful, Dacia told her. ‘Where did you get that?’

     Carmen is 62 years old and on the street. We have placed her in apartments, efficiency hotel rooms, and supportive housing- each time she leaves for one reason or another.

      What she carries with her in a dilapidated grocery cart is what she owns. And what she owns is important to her. 

    ‘There’s a church guy who came to the park one day and gave them out.’ she said. ‘He made them himself. Here, you have it.’ and she took it off her neck and handed it to Dacia.

    ‘No, no, no! This is yours,’ Dacia said trying to give it back. But Carmen wouldn’t have any part of it.

Suddenly the weight of that metal cross was heavier because it came from someone who had virtually nothing.

    Something similar happened to Joe. In our Problem Solvers office, he sees not only homeless but very poor individuals as well; people who might have a very low paying job and live in a boarding house where they rent a room. It’s part of the process.

    One evening Joe saw one of our regular guys wearing a great Out of Africa type hat. Joe knew that Stanley had probably bought it for himself and that in and of itself was a gift. ‘Stanley, I love that hat! It’s great!’ He thanked Joe and went on his way.

The next day, Stanley stopped by SafeHouse and presented Joe with a hat just like his. He had bought one for Joe.

    Pure giving. Stanley didn’t have what others call ‘disposable’ income but still he gave- and out of practically nothing.

Joe carried that hat around like it was made of gold- and really- it was.

Strive for spontaneous giving. It will make you feel rich.

    From the city,

Friends,

    I hope that you’ve been enjoying this great fall weather as much as we have. It doesn’t last too long, but getting a break from the hot, humid Atlanta heat for a while is appreciated by everyone especially those who are in the elements.

    Recently someone asked me what individual would I say has influenced my life. Well there are several people actually, not just one. But most important is my Dad. Even in just how he lived his life, he changed mine. Not everyone has that blessing though. And not everyone even knows the importance of a guiding parent- or realizes it until it might be too late.

Dacia told me a story about one of the teen moms she teaches. Most people think that teen parents are careless or uneducated or both. And many times that’s true. But this particular teen told a different story.

She had the typical tales about how her mom was always ‘nagging her’ about how to behave and telling her the consequences if she didn’t and how it really bugged her that she kept harping on how to behave. Normal mom stuff

But in middle school, her mom passed away. Her parents were divorced and so she had to move into her dad’s house. Suddenly, the ‘nagging’ guidance was gone.

He didn’t care where she was or who she was with. He didn’t care if she stayed out all night.

She didn’t realize it at the time, but his ‘free for all’ lifestyle profoundly affected her. And the product of that was a baby boy.

She says to Dacia, ‘I know that if my mom had been around, even though it seemed like it bugged me, I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. I just didn’t have that guidance anymore.’

She still lives with her father. Her step brother, girl friend, and 2 year old child live there as well.

They’ve been known to take her child’s clothes and food and even her WIC vouchers. And her dad is still live and let live so there is never any reprimand on his part.

She doesn’t sound angry at her dad- maybe at her step brother a little- we think that it might be because she has accepted that this is her life. She may not like it but she has sort of settled in to it. Really, what can she do to change it?

That’s where we hope to make a difference. We like opening the girls’ scope of the future- be that guidance that they lost.

So many of those we serve lost their way because they lost someone to guide them. And really it only takes a little time to fill in some of that gap by listening or being a friend or just hanging out.

Because of friends like you, we’re able to be there for so many. And because of you, so many have been able to get back on their path.

Hopefully, we can continue to guide this young lady- be that voice that was taken from her too soon. That’s what we’re all about-

And when you volunteer your time and send your gifts you help us make that happen for so many.

Next time when you hear about someone who’s obviously lost their way- whether homeless, or addicted, or a high school dropout- think about if what they really lost was someone to show them the way. And then consider taking some time to just be there for them.

From the city,

         In the past two months, we’ve fed around 12,000 meals to the homeless and poor. (Each night averages 200 people), served around 200 at-risk youth through mentoring, outreach, and back to school supplies.

       And in the past two weeks, we have been working with a young woman who was prostituted out by her father at 14. At 24 she wants out of ‘the business’ and has asked SafeHouse to help her do just that.      

 I wanted you to know how your gifts are helping those we serve. Lives are being changed. And isn’t that the bottom line?

          We always think in terms of the poor or the in-need when we speak about changing lives and being blessed. But here at SafeHouse – these are not the only recipients of life changing moments.

          This summer over 1500 youth stayed at SafeHouse for an Urban Experience. They went to shelters, inner-city neighborhoods, made pancakes for the homeless, and distributed hygiene kits and back packs to help those in need. And without fail we heard: ‘this was the best week of my life’ or ‘I will never be the same.’

          Kind of a backwards effect. They come to help people yet they themselves are helped.

          People aren’t sure what to expect when they come here. They don’t think they can relate to those we serve. What could they possibly have in common? But it’s more than that. The volunteers and those we serve have a commonality that is far beyond hobbies or life styles. The connection comes from our basic need to be loved, to have a friend, to have someone listen to us.

         Once that connection is made, things don’t seem so different. One of our volunteers who was working with a prostitute said, “I would think, ‘wow I can’t believe I’m sitting here having a conversation with a prostitute’ but really, she seemed normal- just like you and me.” 

          And the truth is that ‘out here’ are normal people who have been put in abnormal situations or made bad decisions or had the odds stacked against them to begin with. It’s normal, with extra stuff added. That’s a good way to put it. Just because people have issues doesn’t mean they’re devoid of feelings or compassion.

           This summer- an Urban Nation group had gone to a park to talk to the homeless and invite them to a grilled cheese lunch. There were about 10 or so students and chaperones. They would talk to those hanging out and then ask if they would want lunch. Those who did followed the team back to SHO.

           About 20 minutes after they had returned, a homeless man showed up with one of the women’s purses.

            He said, ‘I saw her with it when they were in the park but she left it on one of the benches. I knew she was with SHO.’ And he hands it to the guys in the downstairs office. The woman hadn’t even noticed it was missing yet- but was more than grateful when he returned it. And to her surprise- nothing was missing.

             That was a life changing moment. Not the result of what a volunteer did it; it was the result of someone who was honest and caring. This was unexpected. This is the person who the team came to serve.

              The paradigm has changed: the server becomes the served.

              At SHO, our normal might not be what you expect. But I guarantee, you will grow into it- and it will change your life forever.

              I called it being ruined for the ordinary- ordinary will just never be enough now. Because normal will never be the same.

              Come down to SafeHouse and experience it for yourself.

              From the city,

     I hope you and your family have had as great a time with each other this summer as ours had! It’s good to be able to set aside special time to be together. But even more than that, to do special things together.

     Summertime is a special time at SafeHouse as well. Youth groups, small groups, or even elementary groups come to SHO for a day or stay for up to a month in our dorms and learn to serve.

     If I heard it once, I heard it 100 times from our teams: ‘this is the best week in my life!’ It might not even start out that way- but it always ends that way. There is just something about serving that ignites a fire in everyone. And it’s not only the kids who are excited, adults as well.

     We’ve had a constant stream of ‘carry over’ teams and people this summer, mostly Georgians, who have spent a week here already but come back the next week again- they just can’t stay away! From as far north of downtown as Gainesville and as far south as Fayetteville, individuals are showing up to do it again.

     And so what is it? What is the thing they can’t stay away from? To the outsider it looks like work; 12 hour days, dealing with extreme heat, ‘camp food’, dirt and grime. To simply read it on a list seems to decrease the impact of what’s happening as well: feeding the homeless, cleaning the Urban Center, giving foot care to the weary, playing with inner city children… I could go on.

     There’s a thing that happens- the it- when you get outside of yourself to help someone else- that creates a feeling, a contentment, a fulfillment like nothing else.

     What’s cool is that no one tries to grab the attention either. The focus is turned to those we’re serving. I think youth and children get this the fastest or maybe instinctively than adults. The same way they don’t have to have new technology explained, they just get it.

     And so we thought if serving the poor and disenfranchised is so life changing for regular, average, somewhat privileged American teens and children, what would it be like for under privileged kids?

     Well there’s really only one way to find out- we went to a community in south Atlanta that we work in regularly and asked if any elementary to middle schoolers would like to come to SHO to serve lunch to the homeless. Knowing this population well, we estimated 8 or 9 children would actually show. We had given the children permission slips and told them that if they weren’t signed by a parent, they wouldn’t be allowed on the van.

     The next day we sent a van to pick up the kids. Most of the team stayed back to set up tables and prep the food. And then we got a phone call- there were about 30 children waiting for us. Two more vans were on the way in moments.

     There were mostly 8, 9, & 10 year olds. First, the youth team had the children make grilled cheese sandwiches and serve each other. Then when the homeless came in- they made the sandwiches and served them lunch. Over 200 sandwiches were made that day.

     Wow! The children said over and over, ‘Can we do this again? I want to come back!’ They got it.

     That’s the cool thing – it crosses all economic, religious, racial, and ethnic boundaries. Everyone can get it.

     At SafeHouse Outreach, we serve and we teach others to serve. Think about a world where everyone is serving someone. And then what happens is: the more you serve, the more you want to serve.

     That is social change.

     Come down to SHO and serve with us- better yet, bring someone with you who’s never served before and watch them get it. I’m telling you, their life will never be the same, and neither will yours.

     From the city,

Hello friends,                                                                                                   

I hope that this has been a great summer so far filled with fun and family! Dacia and I have been able to spend time with each of our grown kids and our grandkids already this summer. So many memories to last a life time!

There’s nothing like having one of your grandchildren just naturally take your hand when you’re walking together. That touch is so special.

I read once every human being needs 12 hugs a day for survival, growth, and maintenance. The human touch is as necessary as food and air. And science has proven this. In orphanages in the 1880’s in Europe, doctors noticed that the children, who were sick and never touched, died. The children who were touched got better faster.

But can you imagine your life with no touch? As you know, many of the people we serve at SafeHouse are homeless. And with that comes little to no chance to clean your clothes or your hair, take showers and then add in the summer heat- Suddenly, this person, this human being, is an untouchable.

At SHO, we’re very aware of this and encourage our volunteers to give healthy human touch to those we serve. There is protocol of course and we’re careful to follow it. So we’ve found creative ways to reach out and touch.

One way is with Foot Care or Foot Washing as it was first called. This is what we do: Whoever we’re serving sits in a chair and at his/her feet is the volunteer wearing non-latex gloves and armed with sanitizing wipes and lotion. The volunteer takes

off the shoes and socks, washing the feet carefully with the sanitizing wipes and then gives a foot massage with the lotion.

During this whole process, two people are getting to know each other, talking, laughing- it’s just a good thing. When finished, the volunteer gives who he’s serving a clean pair of socks.

Last week, a team from Rockford, Illinois was hosting a pancake breakfast for some of our homeless friends. After breakfast, they began Foot Care. Josh began carefully taking off Randall’s shoes and then his socks.

He washed Randall’s feet and began massaging them. Then as Josh looked up, he saw Randall crying. Others noticed too. Not a typical reaction to Foot Care. ‘What’s up?’ Josh asked.

‘This is the first time I’ve been touched in 5 years’, he said literally sobbing by now.

Wow. This story didn’t only impact the youth who were there but our entire staff. One staff who was at one time homeless said that he went 2 years without a hug.

Just having the knowledge that there are people living right here in Atlanta who haven’t had physical human contact in what could be years, is alarming. Well it’s more than that; it makes you want to do something. It makes you know you have to do something.

Obviously we’re not recommending that you randomly start hugging strangers. Start with your family. And then, come to SafeHouse and we’ll facilitate a human touch experience for you- for your family or your small group that will bless you as much as the recipient.

Can’t get down here but want the satisfaction of knowing that something you did helped to give someone a hug? Consider a donation of $25 or more a month. Our website: www.safehouseoutreach.org/donations, makes it easy to set up monthly automatic draft for your account. It’s safe, it’s secure, and you never have to even think about it again!

It does make you think though: would there be less crime if the criminals had been hugged more as children? Or would there be motivation to improve the quality of someone’s life if Mama had hugged her children a lot- even though she was single and worked two jobs?

Hugging can transform a person and then a community. –Powerful thought.

So then, who have you hugged today?

From the city,