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Sylvia Anderson
| May 15, 2012
Sometimes people ask me why the meal is so important.
I always tell them, it’s the meal that brings people in. And it’s the meal that helps them decide to stay and change their lives.
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Sylvia Anderson
| Mar 20, 2012
I love the fact that Easter arrives in the spring! The trees and flowers bud, the birds are nesting, bunnies and fawns start popping up in our gardens. The sun warms the earth after our long, wet winter.
All the while, Easter is assuring us that there is hope for the future.
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Sylvia Anderson
| Nov 02, 2011
We’ve all seen the paintings and movie scenes of families gathering around a huge table with a white linen tablecloth, doilies and grandma’s best china. Platters of turkey and ham, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy are passed around. Yes, Americans have a lot to be thankful for that so many of can still celebrate with this kind of feast.
But we aren’t just celebrating the abundance of food, are we?
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Sylvia Anderson
| Sep 27, 2011
Homeless. I could look up the word in the dictionary and find a pretty simple definition: persons who lack permanent housing. Or I could look deeper and find it a lot more complicated, like what is really happening in someone’s life.
Why don’t they have a home?
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Sylvia Anderson
| Jun 21, 2011
She came to us high on meth, she had no job, no home. She was a young woman on the streets . . . vulnerable, alone and lost in addiction. Then she enrolled in our recovery program and got clean from alcohol and drugs. She learned basic life skills like balancing a checkbook and setting aside money for a rainy day. She did so well that she became a resident assistant in our shelter.
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Sylvia Anderson
| Jun 17, 2011
You might think that a month doesn’t seem like a long time to be homeless. But think of going for a month without a hot shower. You have to use public restrooms all day long. Even brushing your teeth is a complicated chore. No hot meals cooked up in your microwave or baked in your oven.
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Sylvia Anderson
| Jun 17, 2011
You may not know that I was a foster parent for 10 years. That’s how I learned that foster children are the hidden homeless. Not only that, but when they age out of the system, without a safety net and something like a loving family, they will end up as one of the very visible homeless we see on our streets each day. Often, their condition lasts for years. And it can pass on to their children, too.
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Sylvia Anderson
| May 13, 2011
We go to great lengths to keep women and children together. It isn’t always possible. But part of recovering from homelessness is learning basic life skills, including parenting.
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Sylvia Anderson
| May 05, 2011
Although the number of people applying for Basic Food (also known as “Food Stamps”) has grown exponentially since 2008, there are thousands of hungry households struggling to make it on their own without the help. In fact, the U.S.D.A. reports that 32% of food insecure households that qualified for the program do not get them.
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Sylvia Anderson
| May 05, 2011
We made it through the big Easter celebration. What a great day!
A lot of people found out what the Resurrection is really all about, and their lives may never be the same because of the love of Christ they’ve experienced firsthand here at the Mission.
But after a big event like Easter, the work really just begins.
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Sylvia Anderson
| May 05, 2011
We’re hearing a lot about the rising cost of food these days. But we don’t need the newspapers to tell us we’re paying more for less at the grocery store. If you have a job or income coming in each month, the higher prices are painful, but not devastating.
That’s not the case for families already making hard choices between rent or medicine for the children, or electricity or food. Higher food costs can be the tipping point to eviction and homelessness.
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