
Cathy – More Than A Single Story
On a brisk Sunday morning in January I set out to meet the many homeless men and women living on the streets of affluent Sarasota. Accompanying me was Allan Mestel and Greg Cruz, co-founders of Streets of Paradise; a grassroots outreach that feeds homeless men and women in Sarasota.
The first person I met was Cathy, she is a petite 58-year old woman with the kind of strength of character and resilience that could inspire anyone. Cathy’s life began falling apart after her mother passed. She struggled with addiction, but still never imagined it getting that out of control that she would land up homeless. Sadly, the unimaginable happened and Cathy was living on the streets for seven long months. She explained to me that on the streets she was exhausted and too afraid to close her eyes. She describes what she saw on the streets as “just madness.” She lived with constant hunger pangs while being unsure of where her next meal would come from. Cathy felt ashamed of herself and had lost confidence in her own strength and abilities.
She reached out to Catholic Charities of Venice, Florida inquiring about possible resources but never heard back from them. Sadly, according to HUD, Department of Housing and Urban Development, an individual must be homeless for more than one year before qualifying for services that are reserved for those deemed, ‘chronically homeless.’ Of note, at the time of writing this due to a lapse in congressional appropriations HUD is currently closed.
Fortunately for Cathy, she met volunteers with a heart from Streets of Paradise on a Thursday evening as they set up tables to feed the homeless community outside the Salvation Army; that moment became a turning point for her. She needed a little kindness, genuine smiles and a nonjudgemental approach offered her much-needed inspiration. Today Cathy is sober and working part-time while care taking her granddaughter four days a week. She is currently living with her son and his girlfriend and hopes to save $1,400, which would enable her to move into her own space.
What came to mind for me as I thought about Cathy later that day was Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s challenges to what she referred to as “The Danger of a Single Story.’ Ngozi Adichie addresses the ease with which people can be judged and then reduced to pitiable, poor, and starving. However, each of us is so much more than that and when we engage in reducing another human being to a “Single Story,” we rob them of their humanity.
Cathy is so much more than a single story and yet when she was living the hard life on the streets countless onlookers walked by her and saw only another homeless woman. The “Single Story,” leads to misunderstanding and discrimination. Let’s all try to see a human being rather than a “Single Story,” and in so doing offer a little kindness in the process.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
Aesop
To assist Streets of Paradise in our outreach efforts, please donate here
#awareness, #community, #housing, #poverty, #resilience, #streetsofparadise, #support, #volunteer
smoretraiolit
Appreciate it for helping out, wonderful information.
NJ Criminal defense Lawyer
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
business stat
I like this weblog so much, saved to my bookmarks. “To hold a pen is to be at war.” by Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire.
http://www.lesptitutos.fr/
I’ve been browsing online greater than 3 hours these days, yet I never discovered any fascinating article like yours. It¦s beautiful value enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made excellent content as you did, the web will likely be a lot more helpful than ever before.
view website
I and my buddies appeared to be digesting the best secrets and techniques on your website and then unexpectedly I had a terrible feeling I had not thanked the blog owner for them. Most of the men are already for that reason thrilled to learn all of them and now have extremely been making the most of them. Appreciation for indeed being quite kind and then for going for variety of ideal tips millions of individuals are really needing to discover. My honest apologies for not expressing appreciation to sooner.
bigpond email
Hi there it’s me, I am also visiting this web page daily, this website is truly positive and the individuals are actually sharing good ideas.
Navaid
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case. UFABET
Navaid
Useful information. Fortunate me I discovered your web site by chance, and I’m surprised why this twist of fate didn’t happened earlier! I bookmarked it. UFABET
Navaid
You know your projects stand out of the herd. There is something special about them. It seems to me all of them are really brilliant! Compressor Tools – Rotary Screw
Navaid
Intriguing post. Positive that I’ll come back here. Good function. แทงบอลออนไลน์
Navaid
I don’t know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else encountering problems with your website. It appears like some of the written text in your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to them too? This might be a issue with my browser because I’ve had this happen previously. Thank you Xヴぃでお
Navaid
Man, I really enjoyed reading this message. You have convinced me to subscribe to your blog, but where can I find the RSS feed? Sexo quente
Navaid
Play Black Ops Zombies… […]Call of Duty Black Ops zombie mode has been played by millions of gamers…[…]… Gratis porno
Navaid
Interesting column , I am going to spend more time reading about this topic UFA
Navaid
I wanted to thank you a lot more for this amazing web-site you have created here. It truly is full of useful tips for those who are genuinely interested in this subject, specifically this very post. Your all actually sweet plus thoughtful of others as well as reading your site posts is a wonderful delight in my experience. And what a generous reward! Mary and I will certainly have fun making use of your guidelines in what we must do in a few weeks. Our checklist is a mile long which means that your tips might be put to great use. UFA
Navaid
Intriguing post. Positive that I’ll come back here. Good function. UFA
Navaid
Interesting column , I am going to spend more time reading about this topic ebooks
Navaid
hi and thanks regarding the particular post ive really been searching regarding this kind of info online for sum time these days hence thanks a lot เว็บบอลออนไลน์