Sarah Ford | April 24, 2014
Homeless for 11 Years, Mike Can Finally Develop Hopes & Dreams Thanks to Miriam’s Kitchen
A Message from Scott Schenkelberg, President & CEO, Miriam’s Kitchen:
What are your hopes and dreams for the next 10 years?
For many of our guests, it’s pretty hard to think about hopes and dreams. The average life expectancy for people who’ve been living on the streets for a long time is only 62. But when I look around the Miriam’s Kitchen dining room, the majority of our guests are over 50. They don’t have 10 more years.
By giving to Miriam’s Kitchen today, you will give our guests the ability to dream of a life ten years from now.
Mike is a 57 year old guest who recently moved into his own apartment. His mental health issues and a complicated family situation led to him being alone without a support system. To cope with his mental illness, he started drinking.
Mike was homeless for more than 11 years and he started coming to Miriam’s Kitchen seven years ago.
We provided him with healthy meals, mental health counseling and medical care. We helped with transportation assistance for his appointments. We even helped him obtain an ID.
But what Mike really wanted was housing.
We helped Mike complete the necessary paperwork and connected him to a program that he qualified for at Pathways to Housing. With Pathways’ support, Mike moved into his own apartment.
Now that he has his own home, Mike can finally develop hopes and dreams for 10 years from now.
I want every single guest in our dining room to experience the life change that Mike experienced. For every success like Mike’s there are hundreds of other guests who also need housing.
The clock is ticking for our homeless guests.
I hope you’ll consider a gift today. We’d love to give our guests ten more years to dream.
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