Helping Hot Southern Mess

After reading about the desperate needs of one of my favourite bloggers, Hot Southern Mess regarding her financial situation, I have not been able to ignore her story.

As I carry on with my own life, my mind wanders back to her with concern and questions, the biggest one being “How can I help?” or better yet “How can MORE people help?” because she needs a lot more help than I can give her.

You can read more about her circumstances at http://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/

You can email her at allbuthomeless@gmail.com

Her regular blog is http://hotsouthernmess.wordpress.com/

When you’re in a financial bind, it is optimistic to think somehow everything will work out. The reality is that in many cases, things only get worse for various reasons out of our control.  Sometimes, no matter what you try to do, there is no way you can stay afloat without the help of others. I can totally understand how this can happen. It happens every day.

Can you imagine going from what you have now, a roof over your head (no matter how fancy), to having to sell anything of value because you need to pay your bills?  It helps but still is not enough to keep you from losing your home. It seems so hopeless. Family can only help to a point or perhaps do not fully understand what you are going through.

You make a radical, brave move that was totally unthinkable until you were looking at the street and wondering where you would sleep. You reach out to total strangers for the smallest gesture and hope that all of these small wonders will add up to the difference between staying in your home or being a homeless family.

If I hadn’t already connected to such a sincere , warm soul and already had my opinion of who I sincerely believe her to be, I would not be writing this post. I believe she is a good person who happens to be in a bad situation. It is my opinion.

Recently, I responded to a post entitled “Past, Present and Future Reside, a poem.” by Jennifer at  http://writingsofamrs.wordpress.com/ , a blog I happily follow.  The subject was about how we as individuals can use our passion to take action and contribute to meaningful change.  We can do this by being a part of addressing social issues, protecting our children, reducing stigmas, or just by reaching out to a single person in need.  The ways we can help are limitless. Small miracles can happen when many people pool their resources together. This could be the case for Hot Southern Mess.

SO…I need to practice what I preach. After mulling over different options to help, I decided to send her a gift card.

I am not in a great financial place in my life considering my age, but I have a home, I never go hungry, I manage to pay my bills and I sleep in a warm bed every night counting my blessings. To think of losing that is terrifying, so I can only imagine the stress that Hot Southern Mess and her husband face daily. At the same time, she still manages to find a kind word or inspiring thought to share with her readers. I find that amazing.

This isn’t about moving mountains. This is about giving a nice lady a small gesture from your heart. It might equal to what you paid for Starbucks this week or it might be more. It all adds up. It could add up to keeping a roof over her head. Imagine that!

Am I taking a risk on a lady I have never met?

Maybe.

Do I care?

No, because I’d rather lose a little than see her lose so much.

“There should be no scrutiny in generosity. It should only involve our hands and our heart.”

~Mishunderstood~