Amber, I too would like to thank you for sharing this information.

I have volunteered in the past at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen with my
church group and found it a most humbling experience serving the homeless
and hungry.  I intend to get involved with Community Kitchen again.

We don't realize how many people in our communities are homeless and hungry
and until we reach out to help them. One cold winter I collected socks,
gloves and hats my church for the needy.  I was overwhelmed by the response
I received.

We all need to be involved in serving those in need in our community.

Thank you for reminding us.

Mary Coleman



-----Original Message-----
From: UTC Staff E-Mail List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Amber Crystal Beason
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 9:08 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [UTCSTAFF] Krystals for the Kitchen

As people have ranted about Krystal on raven, a few have mentioned pledging
money to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.  Some even mentioned a dollar
per Krystal!  My boyfriend works at the Community Kitchen, doing everything
from case management to marketing and grants.  I have spent many hours doing
volunteer work, and have seen the good that can come from community
donations.  Alot of people have  misconceptions about the homeless, and
concerns about where their monies go.  Here are a few bits of information,
and you can count me in to donate as well.

Here at the Kitchen, we serve 120,000 plus meals every year.  Many of the
people we serve are single men and women, who repeatedly eat in our dining
room.  However, more and more young women with children are needing our
services.  We serve families in our transitional housing apartments, and
shelters, as well as with our SAFAH program which assists single mothers and
their children as they transition into permanent housing from shelters.

Nationally, the average age of a homeless person is 9 years old.  The number
one, two, and three reasons for homelessness are unemployment,
divorce/domestic violence, and eviction.  


The stereotype for a homeless person is the aging, drunken, bearded old man
in the gutter.  The truth is far from it.  You actually rarely see the
majority of homeless people...or at least you rarely notice them.  They live
in cars, stay with friends and family, and work.  They could be anyone on
the street.  They are dressed.  They do not panhandle (actually, I've never
been panhandled by a homeless person in Chattanooga...the people that
panhandle are housed, and panhandle as a living).  They may drink, but drugs
and alcohol did not cause them to be homeless.  More than likely, if they
have a drug or alcohol problem, they developed it AFTER they became
homeless.... I probably would too; what's more depressing than being
homeless?

Here in the US, we don't have hunger like third world countries experience
it.  Still, it is not limited to the homeless.  We live in the land of
reduced/free lunches, 99 cent gorditas and a sackful of Krystals.  We have a
high rate of obesity, highest in the world.  But we have people down the
street literally starving.  

I read a few weeks ago that in New York City, the average person in a soup
kitchen line is a 6 year old girl.

 
Amber Beason
Office of Records & Registration
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
109 Race Hall
423-425-4892

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