Please help if you can ....

As a Realtor, I work with people on a daily basis who are fortunate enough to either own a home or are in the process of purchasing a home. But in recent days, we are also coming in contact with people who are about to lose their home ... Sometimes people forget how important a home really is - it gives us shelter, it creates memories, it is where we raise our children, where we have fun with our families and friends, and where we get to shut out the world and just be ourselves.

I would like to ask everybody out there who is reading this blog to also remember those people who don't have a home at all, not even a rental! They live on the streets, in card board boxes, under bridges, in tents by freeway on-ramps, or in a shelter ... The number of homeless people is increasing sharply due to people losing their homes and jobs. In the Los Angeles area, according to Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, during the winter of 2008/2009, 620 families used its winter shelter program, up from 330 families the previous year (to see the numbers for other major cities, go to http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-05-homeless_N.htm ). According to a new report for New York released in October, 16,000 children were in shelters by the end of September ...

If you can, please try to make a difference in somebody's life this year. Be it for Thanksgiving or the upcoming Holidays, or no special occasion at all. There are local food banks everywhere, you can make donations online, etc. ...

I just got in touch with the LA Mission, and they will also accept clothing articles and shoes (including children's clothing) - and instead of them being sold, they will be handed out directly to people in need, completey free of charge! If you would like to contribute as well, here is the link to their official website: http://www.losangelesmission.org/  If you are thinking about a donation in-kind, they will even come out to your home to pick it up (just call them and ask for Eugene).

Thank you all so very much for your consideration.