Shelter Day 1,426

Have you ever thought about 'shelter'???

Sure we all think about it as a building, that is the first thought & I, for one, tend to take it for granted.  I see on the news the homeless people who are thankful for a piece of cardboard to keep the frost or wind off, the side of a building to block the same.  A stand of trees for someone or something can also be a shelter, or a vehicle.

Our youth pastor's car was recently a shelter for a family/litter of mice, who proceeded to chew up his wires.  This was not a good thing; but to them it was shelter & food of a sort. 

The arms of another can also be a shelter & at times, an animal has sheltered a human from the elements.  Protecting them & keeping them warm till help could come.  In some cases saving the life of a small person, who would have possibly not survived without that intervention.

Some find themselves discontent with what they have, thinking theirs is not good enough & always striving for more.  Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to better yourself; but it is also important not to exceed what you can afford either.  In our current economy it is easy to find yourself without work, doesn't matter how well you are doing today.  You could be upper middle class today & in poverty tomorrow.  No one is immune. 

It happened to us, though we faired well because we had NOT overextended ourselves.  We had been careful in what we owed to others.  We never had much that was fancy.  My hubby had a serious accident.  Sure, the company paid the bills.  He was no longer able to drive, he was not found at fault; but they were a big company & we got a meager settlement that paid off a few of the bills we did have. 

I guess this thought came about as I was thinking about our past, we used to own this property just for hunting & had another piece in Kenosha county too. We had a pretty good two income life & didn't want for much. So many people are quick to judge those who are homeless or don't have much, you see them comment on how they should have done this or that different. How can anyone know what someone else should have done if they didn't live their life? Especially in our current world?
As I said, we were NOT hurting. Then one night Eddie went out on his route. I got a call about 5 a.m. There had been an accident & they didn't know if he was dead or alive. Did I need a ride to pick me up. They thought I was up here; but I was down by where he was so I said no, I had someone who could take me to the hospital. The next two weeks his employer was very attentive. Eddie was okay, though no longer able to do his job, so he was let go. The company was a large one, so a moderate settlement was made & he got some help finding a low level job that he could perform after his injuries. We could not fight them as no negligence was on their part or his. Heck it didn't even make the papers & it involved a semi blocking the entire road for hours. Like I said a BIG powerful company. We did manage to get a lump payment, after arguing a long time, for the workman's comp. Had we not, we would have been homeless. We lost our home in Southern WI. It was foreclosed. Our income dropped to $125 a week. The property we had up here was on land contract & she demanded the total after she found out he was no longer working. I fought hard to get the full WC, had to go all the way to the head in Madison & that is how I was able to keep this land. Otherwise we would have gone from owning a 3 bedroom home in the suburbs & 60 acres of hunting land to homeless in a matter of months.

This same company/union did not tell him he was eligible to take early retirement benefits because of the accident. We found this out 1 year & 11 months after the accident. If you do not claim them by 2 years, then you cannot get them till retirement age. We just stumbled onto them by accident & NO they did not pay him a bunch of back pay. He was turned down at that time for disability SS too; because he could do light duty work. He did this for 15 years, in a great deal of pain. Eddie had a compressed fracture of the lumbar vertebrae. They did not find it & it healed over, he still suffers from it.

We dropped from upper middle class to lower class overnight & survived.  We never ended up on the streets, by God's grace; but easily could have.  So, we are careful not to judge when other do.  Like I said, no one is immune. 

When you do see someone who needs shelter, is there something you could do.  Offer them a hot meal?  Guide them to a shelter?  Contact an agency, not the gov't kind; but the private ones that really give a hand-up not the hand-outs, the ones that help people get back on their feet with dignity.  Think about it.  Sad as it is, I also say do it with caution.  There are also people who do scams in this field, so do not approach anyone alone.   Always, have a group of people with you if you are going to extend a helping hand.  Do not offer your home, there are people who will help in the areas; but also do not turn your head or judge them.  It could very well be you, never say never, YES it could be you.

Take time to make a difference in someone's life.