What I Can Do

Teresa and Dilip volunteered for the first time.

It had been six months since we last served dinner to the families of Home and Hope. Though our commitment occurs in the middle of the holiday season we have five cooks/servers for each night.

One of the clients, a single mother, was excited by her new job. The downside was that she had the night shift, which meant leaving her teenaged son in charge of his two younger siblings.

The two volunteers who stay overnight--my turn will be on Thursday--must be knowledgable about each family's situation, for their and our sake.

In this economy adults of all skill levels can get jobs. The problem is not finding work but housing that is affordable. In Foster City the cheapest one-bedroom apartment (525 sq. ft.) is $2,295 per month, which would absorb more than half the after-tax salary of someone earning $50,000.

Solving the problems of homelessness and affordable housing is way above my pay grade. Meanwhile, what I can do is bring some food and help look after things overnight.