At the Adams Street Family Campus Christmas party our parents
were nurturing their children, taking Santa photos together, decorating cookies, and helping each other’s kids along as they danced around the cakewalk—just as any mommy or daddy does. The room glistened—not only with bright holidays lights, but with the sparkle in every parents’ eyes as they watched their little ones cuddle up to Santa to see what he had waiting for them in his big red sack.
Homeless parents love their children just as any parent does. It’s important to end the misconception that homeless children need to be saved from their parents for putting them in such dire circumstances. It’s not a question of whether most homeless parents love and want to care for their children, it’s a matter of the resources they have available to them.
When I was decorating the facility earlier that day, one of our dads approached me to say hello. He turned out to be a former colleague of one of my close relatives. He is reputed for being a hard worker, honest, compassionate, and he thinks the world of his children. He said, “you know, I was so ashamed to come here. I was so embarrassed that after caring for my family on my own for so long, I finally had to ask for help.” I reassured him that sometimes asking for help through resources like the Rescue Mission is the right thing to do to provide better stability for his family in the long run.
Like this individual, many of our homeless parents come to us, because they are out of options. With the help of our donors, many of them are on the right track to building their futures so they can better provide for their children. I want to close this blog by thanking our donors for supporting us, and our parents for putting their children’s needs as priority above their own. By swallowing their pride and asking for help they truly are giving their children a better chance at a stable future. God bless you all, I wish great success and happiness for every one of you! You SHOULD be proud that you made the right choice to better your families.