{"id":45313,"date":"2025-01-24T17:30:37","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T17:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/activist\/a-bit-of-hope-in-the-cold\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T17:30:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T17:30:37","slug":"a-bit-of-hope-in-the-cold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=45313","title":{"rendered":"A Bit of Hope in the Cold"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

If you ever had any doubt whether
\ndonations to Project Warmth are needed or not, let me set the record straight.<\/span><\/p>\n

We just had a guest who
\nmade me cry.<\/span><\/p>\n

They are houseless.\u00a0 <\/span>They live in a tent.\u00a0 <\/span>They told my partner David the general
\nvicinity of where it is once, and one day we went to check it out and say
\nhello.\u00a0 <\/span>They were not home, but we got to
\nsee it.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a small tent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Down a steep embankment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next to a stream.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a little \u201cforest\u201d if
\nyou will.\u00a0 <\/span>With homes on the other side
\nof the hill.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the summer it might be a
\nbeautiful little setting \u2013 the creek splashing, birds singing\u2026\u00a0 <\/span>A get-away from the hustle and bustle that is
\nall around us.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is not summer.\u00a0 <\/span>It is bitterly cold here.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s so cold that the local public schools
\nstarted 2 hours late today so the kids didn\u2019t have to stand outside waiting for
\nthe bus in the worst of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t seen this guest
\nsince Christmas day.\u00a0 <\/span>We gave them one of
\nthe holiday gift bags I think, I hope we did anyway, it\u2019s hard to remember
\nnow.\u00a0 <\/span>I hadn\u2019t seen them since December,
\nbut I certainly have thought of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they have gone
\ninto the shelter and are not still in the tent\u2026\u201d I thought.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSurely they have gone indoors for THIS \u2013 the
\nground is covered in ice and snow.\u00a0 <\/span>They can\u2019t
\npossibly still be in the thin tent\u2026\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

But they can<\/i> <\/b>still
\nbe in the tent.\u00a0 <\/span>And they are.<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw them at the Little
\nYellow Free Pantry today and ran out to see if they needed anything.\u00a0 <\/span>They had finished and were walking down the
\nsidewalk, so I had to yell to get their attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

When they turned around,
\nthey smiled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have not seen you in a
\nlong time \u2013 HAPPY NEW YEAR!\u201d I greeted them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, in their quiet voice
\nwith the beautiful French accent, they said, \u201cYes, I have not seen you<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>I came many times, but you were not
\nhere.\u00a0 <\/span>I changed the times of my visit to
\nsee you, but you were gone.\u00a0 <\/span>I thought
\nmaybe a holiday?\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, my friend, a
\nholiday.\u00a0 <\/span>To someplace warm.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Talk about privilege\u2026\u00a0 <\/span>I left my warm home, the one with the soft
\nbed and the heated blanket, and flew to Florida.\u00a0 <\/span>There I walked on the sandy beach.\u00a0 <\/span>I lie in another soft bed.\u00a0 <\/span>I rested.\u00a0
\n<\/span>I recharged.<\/span><\/p>\n

While this person shivered
\nin a tent.<\/span><\/p>\n

They had already found
\nfood in the pantry today (they collect food not only for themselves, but also
\nfor another person experiencing homelessness that is not healthy enough to
\ncome).\u00a0 <\/span>But PROJECT WARMTH<\/u> has
\nbegun.\u00a0 <\/span>Warmth<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you moved inside??\u201d I
\nasked hopefully.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no I have not,\u201d they
\nreplied quietly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their hands were
\nuncovered.\u00a0 <\/span>They stood holding their bag
\nof food with cold, cold hands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you have mittens??\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no I do not,\u201d they
\ntold me.<\/span><\/p>\n

If we gave them a gift bag
\nthere was a pair of stretchy cotton gloves inside, but those are not really
\nwarm, and this person had probably given them as a gift to his friend.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSit here on our
\nsteps!\u00a0 <\/span>I will go get gloves.\u00a0 <\/span>I will be right back,\u201d I told them.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I returned with the
\nfirst load, a neighbor and her child had arrived.\u00a0 <\/span>They were bringing a tiny snowsuit to donate.\u00a0 <\/span>It was touching – seeing a donor and a
\nrecipient both standing in the sunshine on the freezing sidewalk.<\/span><\/p>\n

I presented the guest some
\namazing gloves someone had donated – black ski gloves that looked very, very
\nwarm.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat about these?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWill this work for you or your friend??\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>Those were a resounding yes.<\/span><\/p>\n

More trips inside and back
\nout.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sweatshirts.\u00a0 <\/span>Warm socks.\u00a0
\n<\/span>Hat (we only had one good hat at the moment, the others were too small,
\nthe rest are at the storage unit and need to be retrieved).\u00a0 <\/span>Long underwear shirt (which I had to explain,
\napparently those are not a thing in their home country).\u00a0 <\/span>Scarves.\u00a0
\n<\/span>A neck warmer.\u00a0 <\/span>And COATS.\u00a0 <\/span>For him \u2013 a big fluffy black coat with a warm
\nhood.\u00a0 <\/span>For his friend, a tan coat with a
\nsherpa-like lining.<\/span><\/p>\n

So today, they left with
\ntwo big bags.\u00a0 <\/span>One filled with food.\u00a0 <\/span>One filled with clothing. (And wearing their
\nnew coat, hat, and gloves.)<\/span><\/p>\n

But this project may have
\nthe wrong title.\u00a0 <\/span>For as thick as those
\nitems are, I doubt they can bring warmth <\/i>in this weather.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But they will bring a bit
\nof shelter from the cold.\u00a0 <\/span>A bit of
\ncomfort.\u00a0 <\/span>And perhaps a bit of hope.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope that spring will come
\nearly this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope that the snow will
\nmelt and the stream begin to babble again.<\/span><\/p>\n

And hope that someday for
\nthem as it is for me \u2013 there will be a warm house with a soft bed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you ever had any doubt whether donations to Project Warmth are needed or not, let me set the record straight. We just had a guest who made me cry. They are houseless.\u00a0 They live in a tent.\u00a0 They told my partner David the general vicinity of where it is once, and one day we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12022],"tags":[4723,1557,5202],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-45313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activist","tag-bit","tag-cold","tag-hope"],"yoast_head":"\nA Bit of Hope in the Cold - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=45313\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Bit of Hope in the Cold - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you ever had any doubt whether donations to Project Warmth are needed or not, let me set the record straight. 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