Icy Roads

Those of you that know me best may know that I seriously considered getting on my bicycle during all the icy mess this past week.  It's a well known fact that the cold usually doesn't deter me.

But the streets and the weather were so bad that I didn't hesitate at all to hit the bike trainer instead.  

Maybe I've finally beaten the insanity that gets me on the back of a bicycle at 10 degrees (but it probably had more to do with the fact that the power was out at my house). 

About that power outage that a whole lot of people shared with us--it was inconvenient but we didn't suffer.  We were blessed to have a gas-log fireplace which gave us enough heat to stay semi-comfortable and keep the pipes from freezing.  The cupboard was far from bare.

Let me interrupt this to sing the praises of those utility workers that stayed out in all this mess to work to get us all taken care of.  My goodness, what sacrifices!   We waited patiently, knowing the hardships that they were enduring, all just to get our power turned back on.

We were among the lucky ones.  We had a source of food, heat, and options.  We still had our children's houses to go to--warm houses with plenty of room for us.  But we opted to stay in our own home, warmed by the fire and bellies full, suffering very little.

Lots of people had neither heat nor options.  Lots of people were cold and hungry.

The Blount County Chapter of the Red Cross provided a place for anyone in need, offering food and shelter.  From all reports, they were busy.

Think about being hungry and cold and waiting for the utility company to get your power turned back on.  That's not really too bad.  There might come a time when you will look back at it all and laugh. 

But what if it wasn't temporary?  What if you had little hope of the power being turned back on or the cupboard filled?  In this weather.  We don't stop to think about hunger and homelessness in Blount County but it is very real. 

In big cities, homelessness is obvious.  People pushing grocery carts, asleep in alleys and on park benches. Homelessness in Blount County is mostly a different picture.  There are lots of folks here that are in housing that we all would consider inadequate.  No running water.  No electricity.  No insulation.  Living in cars. Multiple families in a too small house.

There are resources but hardly enough.  Second Harvest Food Bank is there to help with food.  

Welcome Table, a program available at local churches, serves a lot of people every month.  Family Promise gives shelter to families without a place to go.  They do what they can but hunger persists.  Housing needs persist.

People don't choose to be hungry or homeless.  Most often, it is circumstances beyond their control.

We don't stop to think about it, but pretty much every one of us could be in that category, not knowing where our next meal was coming from.  Not having a warm place to spend the night.

Imagine being uninsured (or even underinsured) and then having a catastrophic injury or illness.  

How are you going to pay for that?  And then what will you have left to live on?

You too could end up hungry.  Or homeless.  Or desperate.