The Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition

Survival can be a daunting task for hungry and homeless people. They needhelp, whether the root cause of their plight is intrinsic (e.g., mental illness,drug addiction) or extrinsic (e.g., joblessness with no savings and investmentslimited to Enron stock). What can we do? How can we network with community organizationsdedicated to helping them? To answer, look to the Westside Shelter and HungerCoalition (WSHC).

The WSHC coordinates a wide variety of community resources for the homelessand hungry, including faith-based organizations like our own. Based on the resultsof our congregational issues elections, faith in action has been working closelywith three member organizations of the WSHC: the WestsideFood Bank, TurningPoint, and StepUp on Second. Cathie Gentile, chair of the hunger taskforce, has coordinated our involvement.

Our involvement with the Westside Food Bank and Turning Point has been exemplary.For Step Up on Second, however, we have a problem. We are committed to providingthem a major meal at 3:30 p.m. the fourth Saturday of each month. So far, wehave only barely met this commitment. We need to expand the number of peopleinvolved with this program for it to survive. Please contact Lyn Armondoif you are willing and able to help.

In addition, we support the WSHC through donations and committee participation.Marge Zifferblatt and I have been working with two committees— community outreach and annual service breakfast. The first is workingon ways to more fully engage the faith-based community in the work of the WSHC.The second involves planning the annual celebration of people who have successfullynavigated the difficult path from homelessness to self sufficiency.

I am proud we value community service. Donating time and effort is a form ofgenerosity we can all afford, irrespective of economic circumstance. However,we can do more. As a matter of faith, I think we can and should be even moregenerous with our community. In that spirit, I invite you to donate time andeffort providing food for the mentally ill people cared for at Step Up on Secondand to continue your support of our hunger task force.

-- Charles M. Haskell
Chair, Faith in Action