Treat a person as they are, and they will remain as they are.
Treat them as they could be, & they will become what they should be. (via a Twitter friend Phil R.)
Why the Sunflowers? We select one at a time to help, and the field is vast and full. In each one there is beauty. There is strength, there are talents. In each one, Jesus says: “I am placing these before you for you to help them, are you listening? Are you ready?” ( lwg)
No lack for business. There will never be enough of us doing this work.
Most of Those we help:
- Do not have the warmth of a home to go to
- Do not have a soft warm bed to sleep on
- Do not have the possessions we have to go home to or to look at
- Do not have candles to create the ambiance we so appreciate
- Do not have the music to hear to calm their minds or rev them up for their next pursuit
- Do not have the nice, clean clothes to put on after a warm shower or bath or to wear to an interview
- Do not have the phone to get the call for the interview
- Do not have a nice, relaxing porch to sit out on with a cup of coffee or glass of ice tea and just “BE.”
We “HAVE TO” create a relaxing place for them before we can hope to turn them around.
We “HAVE TO” allow them to relax in order to slow down the chaos in their heads and life.
Bringing them to a shelter to sit or sleep inches away from one another. This does not allow that person to slow down and think. It puts them ‘on guard’ and promotes anxiety. Would YOU want to sleep in this way?
This photo is of a stack of hard plastic bed risers with a thin pad placed on top. of which are placed on the cement outside under a carport style shelter.
Would YOU want to sleep in this way?
We expect most of them to know how, or to have the patience, to fill out a multitude of forms in line of red tape to get any assistance. Many of our Friends In Need can barely read or write. How ridiculous to place unreachable expectations on them.
We expect them to follow a ton of rules and regulations when they do not have the strength to even want to live another day. If they miss an appointment, they are cut off by the very Service Providers that are formed to Help them. How many on the street know the date & time oe even the day? How apt would you be to go to an appointment if you had not showered or had no clean clothing to put on or anything to brush your teeth with?? Seriously. I would like to know. What if you were in a wheelchair, with a brain injury to boot and it was winter and you had a difficult time getting to your Doctors appointments or Service Providers Staffing appointments, and were cut off from services because you couldn’t get your wheelchair bound self there?? Seriously, this is what takes place out there and many of you are donating to orgs who do just that. Kick people to the curb they are formed to assist. We are sick of it. Period. Do not have time to “partner with” or “collaborate” with anyone who practice those types of models.
How can we expect our Friends In Need to keep an appointment when they live in the woods or in a shelter? What reminders are given? After a meal, it’s out to the street again. They are kicked out early to go find work and roam the streets. How? They have no transportation, no appropriate clothing, haven’t been able to or feel like taking a shower, no watch to tell the time, no direction of where to go for work, no resume to take with them, no phone, no sense of time at all, very little training and re-socialization/re-integration. They do not have anywhere near the conveniences which you and I do, to help them complete the expectations we as a society place on them.
Time is not relevant to those on the streets. The moment – is all they have. PERIOD.
We expect them to be like us who are not homeless. They are NOT. However, they want to be, deserve to be and WILL be. With our true help. Our TRUE commitment. With YOUR true committment.
Lance and our friend John in Knoxville, TN
Please Make A Donation Today to Help Us Continue This Valuable Work. 
We THANK YOU in advance.
Lance Greene/Founder
