How You Can Help
A couple weeks ago, I briefly went home in order to attend my brother's wedding and act as maid of honor. It was wonderful, though stressful, and I was glad once the ceremony started and I could relax. A number of people at the reception know what I am doing this year and wanted to hear all about it, and they also wanted to know how they could help. So I decided to blog about it!
One enormous way to help is with my fundraising. The full details are at the bottom of my "About Me" page, but the gist is that it is more effective to donate directly to DOOR rather than indirectly through the YAV program. Once I reach my personal fundraising goals, anything extra I receive will go toward my community's fundraising efforts. After the Denver group has reached our goals, then anything we get will go toward other YAVs/Dwellers around the country who are having trouble raising their full amount, and will allow these programs to continue in the future.
Another way to help is to give to Senior Support Services, where I work. Cash donations are always appreciated, but if you want to give something more tangible, we are constantly in need of men's socks, men's underwear (particularly boxers), and reading glasses. As the weather gets chillier, we are also probably going to need a lot of gloves, hats, and warm blankets very soon. I also encourage everyone to look into similar programs in their local area. I know that we always appreciate volunteers! Homelessness and financial distress can happen to anyone, and it is especially awful for people near or past retirement age.
One of my coworkers and friends at SSS, Florence Onabolu, is studying social work at Metropolitan State University. She is having trouble amassing enough money to complete her final year of classes. If you would like to directly support the education of a fantastic young woman who is going to use her degree to do amazing things for people, her GoFundMe page is here.
Finally, it helps just to receive well-wishes, greetings, and prayers. If you're interested, you can keep in touch with me via this blog, in comments on posts or in a more private email on the About page. I am not comfortable posting my street address here, but you can ask in a message.
Regardless, I want to thank everyone who has helped out so far, as well as everyone who has expressed their desire to help. It's only because of people like you that I even can do what I am doing this year.