Mission Statement

Operations for Bridge and Beyond will cease on Dec 31, 2021, last mailing date should be Dec 24th

GOAL FOR AFGHANS

Afghans
Goal: 30
Start: #24
Current: 26
0.8666%
START
END

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Gubbio, a Homeless Project at St. Boniface Church

A-Z Challenge G= Gubbio Project

I can't help but think God is smiling knowing about the Gubbio Project in San Francisco at St. Boniface Church.  Sleeping is scared.  Homeless people have many problems, beyond the elements, the lack of food, the lack of respect, lack of good health, the also often lack sleep.  They lack sleep because they don't have a bed in a shelter, they don't have a protected dry or clean place to sleep, and or they don't have a place to sleep without being harassed, often by police as well as others.  When you lack sleep, you often act irrationally causing people to fear homeless, to not want to help them and more.

This church has been provided sanctuary, a safe place to sleep, eat, and just be at peace for the last 10 years.   Homeless can sleep from 6 am til 3 pm.  On Friday's meals are served.  There are supplies of personal care items such as soap, toothpaste and more for those in need.  Free hair cuts, vouchers for clothing also are available.   There are pamphlets available to aid the homeless in finding shelters, and other social work assistance.  A nurse podiatrists is available certain days to help with cleaning feet, massaging feet, checking feet for disease etc.  There are 2 masses a day, and the homeless are not asked to leave during those masses.  In fact, many join in prayer, others may sleep through.  The church asks that the back 67 rows be used for sleeping, so parishioners can attend mass up front by the alter.  This project was started by Major Gavin Newson who had a 120 year plan to end homelessness.  20,000 homeless have been houses or referred to shelters and 1.5 million dollars spent; but the problem remains.  For each homeless person taken off the street, there's one to replace them.  Still the church and it's members do what they can and it does help.

Do you have a program similar in your city?  If so, I'd like to know about it, please leave me information in the comments section.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Crying and Homeless and Freezing Temperatures

A-Z Challenge
F = Freezing

Valentines Day George and Joyce Gruss were traveling through Columbus and stopped for a bite to eat at Wendy's on Route 161, right off the freeway with the intention of eating and moving onto their destination.  They noticed a couple near them and the woman was crying.  They seemed very low and down and out and so Joyce and George asked what the problem was.  The couple was homeless, had missed the curfew at the shelter and had no place to go.  It was 8 degrees, with a prediction of going lower as the night progressed.

Wanting to help the couple they took them to a nearby hotel, also on Route 161, The Super 8, and got the couple a room for 3 nights to keep them out of the cold.  They prepaid for the room and left thinking the couple would have a few days reprieve before making their way back to the shelter.   An hour later while Joyce and George were in no longer in Columbus and well on their way, they received a phone call from the hotel saying the weren't letting the couple stay, they were kicking them out.  The couple didn't have any identification.  So, out in the  freezing cold in what was the beginning of the coldest weather of the year the couple went.  No one knows what became of them, or where they went, of if they are ok.  The hotel initially didn't even refund the Gruss's money.  After a large out pouring of negative publicity on social media, their money was refunded.  Super 8 is owned by The Wyndham Hotel Chain.  Petitions gathered large numbers of signatures, again through social media to call this sad fact to the attention of the hotel chain and the general public.  The hotel chain has apologized, but....

The George and Joyce have tried to locate the couple, both by coming back to Columbus and through social media, but my research hasn't turned up anything on that score.

The hotel has had problems before.  Lots of problems with drugs and prostitution.  In fact the hotel had been closed for a period 6 months because of such problems and they were under some pretty tough court guidelines of appropriate action in order to stay open.  They had some business problems, perhaps management problems no doubt.  Does that justify sending a homeless couple out in the freezing cold ...the public outcry would say NO!  Social media can be a wonderful tool.

Yesterdays post, another sad story of being homeless, freezing and dying from exposure, so I do wonder what happened to the couple.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Exposure Kills Homeless Veterans

A-Z Day 6 E=Exposure

This incredible picture truly looks like somewhere over the rainbow.  This was taken by Steve Edquist at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota.  A final resting place of honor for our Military. (Thank you Steve for the use of your photo).

Meet Jerome William Jackson, better known as Jerry.  He was a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corp from 1975-1978.  This picture is the face of a homeless man, taken in 2005 at The Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul where Jerry lived for awhile off and on after being evicted from public housing.  Sadly, this Marine died of exposure on Feb 21st.  His body was found in a homemade shack in below freezing temperatures in Indian Mounds Park.  This Marine who served his country had schizophrenia, making life difficult for him and sometimes those around him; though he was well liked by those who knew him at Our Saviours' Lutheran Church.

No one should die of the elements, of exposure in this country; and most certainly not a Veteran.  But, it happens.  According to an article by Piper Hoffman of Care2, about 700 Homeless People die every year from exposure.  What a sad statistic that is.

This is a sad story, one of many and one of the reasons we do what we can here on Bridge and Beyond.  Warm hats, scarves, and mittens can save a life.  And so we knit and we crochet and we donate.  This isn't the first post I've written about the death of a homeless person.  Very recently I posted about Michael B. Williams, Jr.

However, this is also a rather heart warming story, as the community came together and took care of arrangements to honor this man, Lance Corporal Jackson.  He was buried at Ft. Snelling with military honors, a 21 gun salute and bag pipes.  Mueller Memorial provided their service for free, and arrangement were made to locate his brother, Don and bring him in for the service.  He was honored to receive the folded flag from his brothers casket.  The brothers hadn't seen each other in several years.   Communications were strained and difficult with the disease and the homelessness.  RIP Jerry.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Donating Crocheted Slippers Helps Homeless

Happy Easter.

While today is a Sunday, and a day off from The A-Z Challenge, we do still have donations to share and praise.  These fabulous slippers are crocheted and donated by Cheryl B's friend Romona F.  The slippers are nice and thick, therefore both warm and durable with nice tight stitches...and I think double yarn?  Lots of colors and sizes to warm feet of many different sizes.

Many thanks Cheryl for mailing your friend, Romana's slippers and for spreading the word for Romona to help us.  Welcome to the group Romona F, we're always thrilled to have more helping hands, and look forward to seeing you here on Bridge and Beyond in the future.

Thank you for this thoughtful donation ladies, and Please keep up the good work.

**We've on just begun with the A-Z challenge, tomorrow will be day 5 and the letter E, hope to see you as days and letters continue.  Thus far, I'm pleased to say we have some new followers as I write this we're at 311, believe we were at 205 ish prior to the challenge.  Comments are picking up nicely and a few folks may join us here with our mission, while others may try to find a similar group in their local area to help; and that's good too.  If we've inspired a few more souls to lend a helping hand to their fellow man, it's been successful.  On the technical side of things, there are people who signed up that have comments closed, no badge, and or 3 steps to get through for captcha's, who really aren't participating.  In past years I've taken time to note them all and, as requested let the organizers know.  I found that frustrating, it often seemed it didn't do any good.  I now look to see if comments are open, you don't have to sign in or register with another service and whether or not they have the badge, if they don't; I don't read the blog post and move on.  Vs taking time to read it, and start to formulate a response and get frustrated at wasting time.  My attitude is different this year, and because of that I am less frustrated than other years during the challenge using other blogs.  My mission this year is to spread the word about our cause, and the plight of the homeless across the nation.  By doing that, concentrating on the larger need, and being hopeful we'll gain some additional helping hands...I'm glad I took the time to join, to write and schedule 26 alphabetical posts, visit other blogs daily,  and already feel like it's been a worthwhile venture for our friends, The Homeless who are in need.

2015 DONATIONS:
Hats: 179
Scarves 67
Mittens/Gloves/Wrist Warmers: 45
Slippers: 50+13=63
Rain Poncho's:  53
Cotton Washcloths: 109
Afghans: 6
Socks: 126
Cowls 12
Shawls 1
Misc: items like personal care and things don't fit into above categories aren't counted

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Donation



Day #4, A-Z challenge = D= Donation.

What is a donation?  Google says it's a noun, it's origin is Latin, and it means the act of giving, especially to a charity, a contribution.  Our donations from Bridge and Beyond  for those living outside in the elements, those living day to day in various shelters give hope.  My google search tells me a Butterfly is the symbol for Hope.  I believe we give hope as well as physical warmth with our donations of hand crafted items.  Being cold, hungry...a person needs hope.

Many people immediately think of money when someone says the word donation.  Donations can be varied.  Donations can be money, they can be time, they can be products, they can be a combination of all 3.  We don't collect or donate money here on Bridge and Beyond.  We do donate our time...the time it takes to knit or crochet a hat, the time it takes to read or write blog posts, the time it takes to read or write blog comments.  We also donate products...ie, the finished work....the hat, the scarf or pair of mittens.  We donate personal care items and socks, those too are products.

Some folks may have the ability to donate more, some don't.  It's not the volume that's important, it's that we donate.  And truly every bit of it, every completed work, every minute of time spent...it all counts for something good.

Can you donate?  You don't have to be able to knit or crochet to donate.  You can donate socks, and or personal care items.  You can donate yarn, or postage to a friend who's donating through knitting and crocheting.  You can donate your time to read and posts comments to support those who are knitting and crocheting, you can help spread the word.  Please do what you can.  Please donate to those less fortunate, if not here on Bridge and Beyond, locally.  Every donation matters to someone!

Thank you AnneMarie for this awesome donation of personal care items.  What a fabulous donation.  These are all Avon products she purchased from our other good friend, Sherry K.  What a win win donation.  Personal Care items are needed all year long for men, and women.  Those in shelters as well as those living out in the elements are always in need.

Keep up the good work AnneMarie from New York!

2015 DONATIONS:
Hats: 179
Scarves 67
Mittens/Gloves/Wrist Warmers: 45
Slippers: 50
Rain Poncho's:  53
Cotton Washcloths: 109
Afghans: 6
Socks: 126
Cowls 12
Shawls 1
Misc: items like personal care and things don't fit into above categories aren't counted

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Friday, April 3, 2015

What is Crochet

 This afghan, titled Blue Sky
And this afghan titled Purple Iris are crocheted and on their way to our friend Sarah S to be assembled.  This won't be the easiest of jobs, as you can see the squares aren't the same size, in fact a few in Blue Sky are rectangles and not squares; but she has graciously agreed to lend me a helping hand by putting these together.  Thrilled to have some help on that score.  Many thanks Sarah, we're all looking forward to seeing the end products.


 Today's A-Z challenge is C.  C=crochet.  The two afghan above will be assembled then donated as part of our project for "Welcome Home".  Crocheted and knitted afghans are donated to Homeless Families Foundation discussed in the A post Here

**For new readers, I always name the afghans, based on what they look like.  And when I get stumped some of the good folks who donate to Bridge and Beyond turn their creative juices on and help with the naming as well.

So what is crochet...well wiki says:

Crochet (English pronunciation: /krˈʃ/;[1] French: [kʁɔʃɛ][2]) is a process of creating fabric from yarnthread, or other material strands using a crochet hook.[3] The word is derived from the French word "crochet", meaning hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as metals, woods, or plastic and are commercially manufactured as well as produced by artisans. 

Some folks get confused about crochet vs knitting.  Crochet is as stated above a hook...knitting is 2 needles.

I learned to crochet when I was very young, about 7 I think from a friends Grandmother.  My friend Pam's Grandmother made magical things from string...that's what it seemed like to me.  I'd sit beside her and watch, and probably drove the poor woman nuts with all kinds of questions.  Then one day...she handed me a red plastic crochet hook and a ball of mint green yarn and proceeded to show me how to make a dollie.  I'm sure it was lovely, lol.  Anyway, it's a fond memory and I was very proud of that green dollie....no clue what happened to it though.  Mom probably, being a good Mother used it until I lost interest, lol

I didn't crochet anything else until years later when my husband was working and going to college.  I had a lot of alone time, time on my hands and decided I needed a hobby.  I think the next thing I made was 
a green vest, very similar to the blue one in this old hippie pattern.  In fact, I think I had this pattern book, or at very least I actually remember looking at it.  Thankfully my skills have improved and what you can make with crocheting has improved.  The yarn now available is 100% better then what used to be available.  AND, it's very popular again, it's not just for Grandma's.

2015 DONATIONS:
Hats: 179
Scarves 67
Mittens/Gloves/Wrist Warmers: 45
Slippers: 50
Rain Poncho's:  53
Cotton Washcloths: 109
Afghans: 6
Socks: 126
Cowls 12
Shawls 1
Misc: items like personal care and things don't fit into above categories aren't counted


All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Where are You and Your Yarn From?

I'm trying to identify where everyone is from, partially for fun. Take a look at the map. Also, believe it will aid me in cases where we have several people with the same name. Please look at the lists of bloggers and non bloggers and see if I have the state you hail from. If not, please leave a comment and let me know.

Additionally, we've had help from Scotland, England, Germany Puerto Rico, Canada, and France! They don't appear on the map, but their help is still greatly appreciated.

Where The People Who Donate Come From, is your state represented?