Compassion

Here I am after being a shavee for a St. Baldrick‘s Foundation fundraiser for children with cancer on September 22, 2011.

A couple days ago I looked in the mirror. I desperately need a haircut. (I’ll be seeing @mafiahairdreser for that next week.) I remembered doing a fundraiser for St. Baldrick’s a couple years ago.  It got me thinking.  I am feeling the love for others. I want to do something more for such worthwhile organizations. I don’t plan to have my head shaved again for a while. I have a love for health issues and social services so probably it will be one of those. One I am considering is St. Jude. This organization gets to my heart so much! there are so many great organizations that I love! I am open to ideas if you know of any in Chicago area who need my help. I have a few websites that I will watch for good opportunities too.

This is me today.

Hugs and <3 to you,

AM

What would you do?

I’ve had a lot of questions in life. One of the most troublesome was when I became homeless. I had no idea what to expect or what to do. In time, I learned more and found help, again and again. Of course, learning is never ending. Though I am homeless no more, I am still learning about homelessness. I see people on the street, I may talk to, and may offer to try and help them how I can. What if one of the homeless people I met was you?

On April 7, 2011, I was that homeless person. I interviewed with a case manager with Deborah’s Place and was accepted in to their permanant housing program.

Here I receive support services with my housing, and with no time limits. Permanent housing is just that–I can stay forever or for as long as I like.

For my birthday on December 18th, I’m asking my friends and family for a special gift: help me raise $250 for Deborah’s Place–but in under one day that goal was met! I have faith that we can raise more yet! It is still one week to my birthday. Due to reaching my initial goal so quickly, I believe the challenge should raised. Let’s make the NEW GOAL $500.00!

Without this Deborah’s Place, I would be homeless and living on the streets. They help myself and others giving us housing and free services while we work to acheive self-sufficiency. With no income, my rent is free. We residents at Deborah’s Place love it here. We know the reality: if not for this awesome organization, we would be homeless living on the streets again.

Please consider giving to my Birthday Wish, and together we can help end homelessness. If you can’t give now, I’d really appreciate if you’d share this link http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/494455 with your friends, family, and co-workers.

Thanks so much,

AnnMarie Walsh, @padschicago

Watch “Meet my new homeless friend Paul Jenkins” on YouTube

Need help getting items for my new home

Hey! I have decided to put the word out in hope that someone out there will have a connection or an item that I still need. Please let me know if you can help by emailing me at padschicago@aol.com. Items are for my personal use.

• window air conditioner
• bed (frame, mattress, spring; headboard not necessary)
• hand-held mini vacuum or sweeper vac
• microwave
• small or medium crockpot
• wood clothes drying rack
• power strip surge protector
• desk chair
• small refrigerator

Thank you for any help or suggestions you can provide.

Please help: Gift cards for the #homeless are needed!

Please help me and Paul Saini by donating a $5 gift card to compensate homeless individuals for a photo shoot that will benefit Journeys From Pads To Hope, a homeless services agency. Gift cards can be mailed to me at:

AnnMarie Walsh / Pads Chicago
1456 West Oakdale
Chicago, IL 60657.

Thank you so much for your faith in me! Paul and I also greatly appreciate your support to raise awareness of homelessness and so we can raise funds to benefit Journeys from PADS to Hope.

The amazing @Ramon_DeLeon does it again!

Big thank you hugs to Ramon DeLeon for his donation of a fantastic pizza party for everybody living here at Deborah’s Place – Marah’s! The pizzas arrived on time and all 30 women feasted on the rare treat supplied by Ramon. All had a great time and greatly appreciate his generous–and delicious–donation. The food didn’t last long, everybody was so hungry.

I can’t believe how awesome Ramon is supplying pizza for so many people! And he regularly supplies pizza for area events–it’s unbelievable! The man travels to speak at networking events as well–he is always on the go. Wherever he is, always focuses on excellent customer service at his Domino’s stores. Ordering pizza has never been easier! Just call or tweet! Ramon, thank you so much for sharing yourself and your pizza with so many grateful and hungry people. We <3 you!

 

Home Sweet Home

I am formerly homeless for almost 3 days now. I moved in to supportive permanent housing at Deborah’s Place / Marah’s Thursday afternoon. I absolutely *LOVE* it here! I have never found such impressive, intensive case management practice anywhere, nor such love and welcoming! It’s unbelievable! Housing here is for women only. Male/female guests may be entertained on first floor and outside. Hot meals are served, laundry is free, there are a few pieces of workout equipment, a large library with computers, activities, a beautiful yard with gazebo and a great grill are all included with housing at no extra charges. Rent is free without income, or 30% of income. This is permanent housing so I can stay here forever or long as I want with all these extra benefits. It makes sense. Life is never ending goals and accomplishments, short and long term. This is like any other housing complex, but the management style is more personal and friendly. I like it. They accept donations so if you would like to help the 30 women who benefit from living here, please contact Deborah’s Place at Marah’s today! **Please check back soon–I will post photos and video soon!**

Creating change

I have posted on Twitter about fun, new projects. Tell you, I am honestly excited about this! Through the place where my caseworker is in Chicago, I am starting a class in advocacy–perfect for me! The class works with legislative issues and writing to representatives (what we are working on right now), volunteer issues, and more.

This class will help me to develop my advocacy skills. I have never written to members of senate or congress before or had much of anything to do with legislation. I am sure the advocacy training will inspire new ideas how to help homelessness issues. The interaction with others in the class will help my social skills also.

I am also about to finally start the counseling, and am already on psych med. Amazing things have been happening in my life the past months! It is easy to see. A new life is waiting for me just around the corner.

The Spirit of Giving

This is the time of year when everyone looks to give to others. The holidays have a dramatic effect on people and I am no exception. I celebrate Christmas and my birthday is coming up very soon. Recent tweets by Jeff Shuey and Lotay Yang have inspired me! My mind is racing, contemplating what effort I might be able to do in celebration of my birthday and Christmas?! I would give anything to be able to organize an effort for a van to be donated to Cross and Crown Church so they can help the homeless! But that sadly is expensive and probably not as realistic a short-term goal at this time. So then what would be?! Perhaps I could organize a Christmas party and/or gifts for the homeless–maybe local businesses might be willing to donate? Gift certs and gift cards, free meals, gas cards, auto repair, clothes, shoes/boots…??? Maybe I could open a special PayPal account? I want to do something special for everyone! What can I do?!

A big thank you to Cross and Crown Church

Each and every Saturday of the year the volunteers with the Ministry of Hope at Cross and Crown Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois, serve a feast for the homeless and low-income of the area. Approximately 50 to 70 people enjoy the hot breakfast and lunch each week. Many partake in the opportunity to attend a worship service.

The volunteers and pastors of Cross and Crown are a gift from God to the homeless. They live from their hearts, offering smiles, joy, friendship, hope and support to all who need. They serve delicious meals, give clothing, bikes, and more. They give transportation to and from the church in a church member’s van. The Ministry of Hope is NOT even part of the church budget–all costs come out of their own pockets!

The Ministry of Hope volunteers are absolutely amazing! I honestly don’t know how such a small church can do so much for so many! Some may remember that it was this same church that was vandalized around Christmastime. There was an outpouring of support from communities all around, including an awesome new Christmas tree to replace the one that was damaged by the vandalism.

I felt glad that this church was able to celebrate Christmas and feel the warmth of the community help that we homeless feel when we go to the Ministry of Hope on Saturdays. I hope to return the love and kindness someday by finding a way to help them myself, perhaps by finding them a new or used van of their own to give us rides in to and from the church. It would even grant the church the ability to give us rides to the church on Sundays so that we may attend the regular worship service–something many of us wish to do but can’t get to the church on our own.

View a pdf file about the Ministry of Hope.