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Yes, it's now 2025. We usher in the new year in lots of ways. After the December holidays ending with a big bang on the 31st, it can feel like a deflating balloon. The anticipation of whatever holiday you may celebrate, the work that leads up to it, the hopes you might have for celebrating, and/or the nostalgic and possibly sad feelings the season can bring up means that December is filled with A LOT. And then, it's over.
For Keys to Change, December also means holding the I am Home Breakfast. And we successfully completed the 20th event on December 13. Thanks to all who supported us! We will announce final results within the next week or two.
For me, the I am Home Breakfast signals the start of the holidays. It's after the breakfast when I can make sure I completed all my gift shopping and shipping, and I start baking. For the second year in a row the husband and I planned a vacation, leaving on the 25th. This is probably the best decision we have made in our lives! It's a great time to get away, decompress, and reset for that turn of the calendar. We spent our time in Puerto Rico, and upon our return to Phoenix felt the "winter" chill and the lack of sunlight hours. And I am not complaining! We are fortunate to live in a desert that doesn't face blizzards.
This change of weather is another transition point for the organizations serving people experiencing homelessness. As in Summer and dealing with extreme heat, we look for creative ways to bring people inside, and we ask community to support us with blanket and coat drives. It's too cold to sleep outside. A sleeping bag, even if it is in a tent, is not enough. It may be easy to look from inside the warmth of a car, driving by people who are unsheltered and think "a tent is better than nothing." Well, maybe better than nothing, and it's still not shelter, and it is neither safe nor healthy.
The other transition point I mentioned is the government. I won't be partisan or political here. I do ask everyone to pay attention. At all levels of government the response to homelessness is anticipated to escalate farther along the lines of "criminalization," enforcement of no camping ordinances, and seeking more spaces to create sanctioned encampments to force people to use. Rather than pursue ways to have more indoor capacity for emergency shelter and to create more housing, we will hear messages that punish people without homes...read more...
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