My 48 Hour Campaign - Help me help the homeless.

As many of you know, Street Angels is a HUGE part of my heart and my life. This month marks one year since I left corporate America to join the Street Angel "Family" and their commitment to our friends and their needs. While my main focus is working in the kitchen every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday as the Meal Prep Coordinator, I have also helped with street outreach on many occasions. It is during those outreach nights when we get to spend some face to face (now masked) time with our friends and we are reminded of our commonalities. It is often I look at a friend and 'see' them as someone who could be a family member of mine; my similarly dressed sister, my goofball uncle, my quiet cousin, my retired parent. Our friends are Veterans, Dads, Moms, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters, Aunts, Co-Workers, Nieces, Nephews, Neighbors, Friends, and yes, even our Enemies. Homelessness doesn't affect just one type of person. The reality is that many of us are actually closer to becoming homeless than we are to becoming rich.

Our world, now more than ever, is filled with monumental issues and social concerns of many types. Yet, it is here, in our very own backyard that our friends are experiencing the hazards and daily struggles of homelessness. Living under bridges in the shadows of hospitals, on the steps of closed buildings, in parked vehicles at the back of dark parking lots. Street Angels is not just about a meal or a pair of socks, it is about being able to silently say (with our smiling eyes)

"I See YOU" and "YOU Matter Just As Much As I Do"

On Friday October 23rd at 11:59p I will be dropped off with our Co-Executive Directors and our core outreach team at an unknown location to "live" for 48 hours on the streets. I will leave my home with nothing except for the items on my back. Throughout this 48 hour fundraiser, your monetary support will help myself and the team earn "luxury items" such as a blanket, a meal, a bus ticket, etc. In donating to me via this fundraiser, you will be directly supporting Street Angels’ overall goal of raising $48,000 in 48 hours.

Street Angels is a local (501c3) non-profit that helps meet the basic needs of individuals experiencing homeless in Milwaukee County. Street Angels operates 156 nights per year, 3 nights per week providing hot meals, bag lunches, clothing, blankets, shelter and most important, HOPE to hundreds of individuals experiencing homelessness. But that isn’t all. When Street Angels’ hands someone a hot meal, they’re opening a door for them. They are there to learn their stories and help them take steps to end their homelessness. Never heavy-handed. Never bureaucratic. Their work is friend to friend.

Currently, Street Angels is seeing about 130 friends each night and the number keeps growing. Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on people’s livelihoods, unemployment is sky high, and evictions are resuming after the moratorium. Also critical are the terrible effects of mental health problems and addiction. New people are becoming homeless every day. They are frightened, penniless, and don’t know where to turn. Street Angels is there for them.

By helping me, you are helping hundreds of individuals who would otherwise be lost and without HOPE.