Email: Joshua Newton

Greetings,

I would like to share with you something that I have been struggling with recently. Both at work and in some of the other volunteer work that we have been doing, I see the sheer amount of need in the city and must deal with the fact that as a society and as individuals, we either choose not to or are completely unable to meet and assist people where they are. I speak with many people over the phone each week, and many times we are unable to help them because of their situation or the fact that our shelter is full. All I can do is give them a few more phone numbers to call, realizing that many of these organizations will also have no room for them. I have learned this year that the number of people who need help far exceed the amount of help that is provided by our communities. Our financial assistance program receives over 1,200 calls a month, but we are only able to help 20 to 30 families. We get multiple calls every day from women looking for shelter for their families, but since we have only five bedrooms, we must turn most of them away.

Outside of work, our house has continued to serve breakfast every other week at the Open Door Community. I have begun to notice that many of the people that they serve are chronically homeless, and most for reasons that are not under their control. Many of the people have mental health problems and they are unable to support themselves or live on their own. Because there are not enough facilities to provide them with the support and structure that they need, many of them are forced into a life on the street. Since many of them cannot remember to take their medication or have nowhere to store it, they simply do not take it, and thus have very little chance of getting better. This situation becomes even worse when they choose the only option that seems to help them feel better, turning to alcohol or drugs to self-medicate. I believe that as a society we have a responsibility to help these people get away from life on the street. Many of them could lead productive lives if they had a place to sleep and someone to work with them through whatever issues they may have. But because of their situation, they are unable to take that first step, and we must help them take it.

What gives me hope in the face of all of this is the fact that we are able to truly make a difference in the lives of most of the families that come through our program. We are able to rejoice when a mother finds a job or when a family is able to move into an apartment. In Decatur Cooperative Ministries’s spring newsletter, we shared the success of one of the families in our transitional housing program, a piece I'm pleased to share with you.

I have also begun to realize that my time here in Atlanta is approaching an end; I will only be working at DCM until August 3. Over the past few months I have been searching for a job for starting in August after I finish my year here in Atlanta. I have recently accepted a job teaching high school math at the school that I attended, the Science and Engineering Magnet in Dallas. While I know that I will miss my work here, I look forward once again to have the opportunity to teach. I am looking forward to my last month here in Atlanta and will let you know how my year here ends. Once again, thank you for all of your support.

Sincerely,

Joshua Newton