Coronavirus Fund for Hudson County's Homeless
Spende geschützt
Hi everyone,
We are all living through some very dark times right now. A global pandemic has forced us to retreat to the relative safety of our homes, indefinitely. Most of our neighborhoods and cities are shutting down, and the ways in which we live, work, and socialize are going to radically change over the next months and perhaps even years. Now imagine you were experiencing all of this, and at the same time, that you were also homeless.
Well, I don't have to imagine, because I've been homeless for the past fifteen months. I've lived in shelters, single and with a partner, slept on the streets, in porta potties, and even made a home out of an abandoned trailer. If you saw me on the street, you would have a vague idea that I was homeless, as I am dressed decently and keep up my hygiene. But the horrors of homelessness are something I know all too well.
Currently, I am staying at a warming shelter in Kearny, NJ. They pick us up at 9:45 pm every night, wake us up abruptly at 6:00 - 6:30 am, and have us dropped back off in Journal Square within the hour. Usually the homeless in this area can get a cheap cup of coffee and sit in the McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts for a while to get their bearings, but now EVERYTHING is closed, or has their seating sections closed off. This disproportionately affects the homeless, because now we are out in the cold all day with nowhere to go.
I am one of the luckier homeless people in Jersey City --because I am currently taking courses at the local community college, I can spend the day (until 5) in the school library. The college has decided to keep the library open for students, for the time being. But should they decide to close it, I will have nowhere to spend my days, as well as nowhere to do my coursework. The libraries in New York are also all closed for the next couple of weeks.
The warming center where I am staying will close on April 1, at perhaps the beginning of the peak of the coronavirus crisis in the States. So we will all, effectively be out on the streets at that point, with no safe haven during the night or day. I will likely be forced to go to a shelter in the Bronx at that point, but most homeless folk around here will have nowhere to go.
None of them, nobody, deserves to be out on the streets at any time, but especially during a crisis such as this one. If you can donate and share, please do. This money would help put homeless citizens in the area into temporary shelter during this time of crisis, as well as provide food, clothing, and other necessities. If anyone wants to help fund raise and turn this into a group thing, I'm open to that as well.
I also plan to start a non-profit soon that will raise funds to put homeless people directly into housing first, and then address their other needs.
Blessings to You All.
Elijah
We are all living through some very dark times right now. A global pandemic has forced us to retreat to the relative safety of our homes, indefinitely. Most of our neighborhoods and cities are shutting down, and the ways in which we live, work, and socialize are going to radically change over the next months and perhaps even years. Now imagine you were experiencing all of this, and at the same time, that you were also homeless.
Well, I don't have to imagine, because I've been homeless for the past fifteen months. I've lived in shelters, single and with a partner, slept on the streets, in porta potties, and even made a home out of an abandoned trailer. If you saw me on the street, you would have a vague idea that I was homeless, as I am dressed decently and keep up my hygiene. But the horrors of homelessness are something I know all too well.
Currently, I am staying at a warming shelter in Kearny, NJ. They pick us up at 9:45 pm every night, wake us up abruptly at 6:00 - 6:30 am, and have us dropped back off in Journal Square within the hour. Usually the homeless in this area can get a cheap cup of coffee and sit in the McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts for a while to get their bearings, but now EVERYTHING is closed, or has their seating sections closed off. This disproportionately affects the homeless, because now we are out in the cold all day with nowhere to go.
I am one of the luckier homeless people in Jersey City --because I am currently taking courses at the local community college, I can spend the day (until 5) in the school library. The college has decided to keep the library open for students, for the time being. But should they decide to close it, I will have nowhere to spend my days, as well as nowhere to do my coursework. The libraries in New York are also all closed for the next couple of weeks.
The warming center where I am staying will close on April 1, at perhaps the beginning of the peak of the coronavirus crisis in the States. So we will all, effectively be out on the streets at that point, with no safe haven during the night or day. I will likely be forced to go to a shelter in the Bronx at that point, but most homeless folk around here will have nowhere to go.
None of them, nobody, deserves to be out on the streets at any time, but especially during a crisis such as this one. If you can donate and share, please do. This money would help put homeless citizens in the area into temporary shelter during this time of crisis, as well as provide food, clothing, and other necessities. If anyone wants to help fund raise and turn this into a group thing, I'm open to that as well.
I also plan to start a non-profit soon that will raise funds to put homeless people directly into housing first, and then address their other needs.
Blessings to You All.
Elijah
Organisator
Elijah Taylor
Organisator
Jersey City, NJ