05/27/2026
Tonight was special.
We had three teenagers serving with us, and there is just something powerful about watching young people choose compassion. Watching them sit, listen, serve, and care for people the world often overlooks gave me a lot of hope. When I was younger, I never had opportunities like this. I never got to see humanity this closely or understand the weight so many people carry every single day.
The truth is, there are so many people out there simply trying to survive. People carrying unimaginable trauma while still waking up every morning and pushing forward. They deal with the same struggles many of us complain about insurance problems, medical issues, financial stress, but then add on the loss of a child, the loss of a spouse, sexual abuse, addiction, assault, physical abuse, abandonment, and years of pain that most people will never fully understand.
It breaks my heart to think that some of our most vulnerable people could be criminalized simply for existing in survival mode. That is not to say there are not situations where incarceration is necessary, because sometimes there are. But the overwhelming majority of the people we meet are trying. They are fighting through the elements, through loneliness, through trauma, and through addictions that often began as an attempt to numb unbearable pain. If more people heard their stories, they would understand that addiction is rarely the beginning of the story. It is usually the aftermath of it.
One thing this work constantly teaches me is that we have to approach people with humility, compassion, and love right where they are. The moment you truly connect with someone and hear their story, it puts a mirror in front of your own life. Your comforts. Your support systems. Your opportunities. The things many of us never even realize we have because theyâve always been there. Its devastating once you understand how one support system like parents, or friends can destroy any hope of recovery.
Some people are fighting battles most of us could never imagine, and they are doing it completely alone and isolated.
Connection matters. Feeling seen matters. Feeling loved matters. When people lose those things, pain grows deeper and addictions grow louder. Healing starts when people stop feeling invisible.
So spread love. Be kind. Listen longer. Judge less. You never know what someone had to survive just to make it to today.
We all struggle but we all need community and friends that are there no matter what. Ask yourself who you can call when something goes dramatically wrong. What happens when you dont have that answer?
We are determined to make sure each person living rough has a person and a lifeline to just talk through things and share struggles. Sometimes peace is on the other side of war and that war is within. It helps to have reinforcements, encouragement, and allies.
So you pick a person to Love today and let them know they are not alone...
