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Dear Friends,
May is such a busy time! Whether juggling the many end-of-school year activities, preparing for summer travels, or tackling yardwork now that the days are longer (and warmer!), there is always so much to do.
We are busy, too, at LHM Foundation as we continue to grow our Horizons transitional housing program. Although all of that busy-ness is exciting, we must be mindful of the risk that it presents – the risk that we start viewing program participants collectively, rather than as individuals with their own gifts and challenges. But there is not a single cause of homelessness, nor is there a collective solution for overcoming barriers to housing security. We must tackle obstacles one at a time. One participant might need assistance applying for a childcare subsidy while another needs to find transportation to a new job. A third might be struggling with a medical complication while another needs to address outstanding legal matters.
In her 1952 autobiography, The Long Loneliness, Dorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement, wrote, “It is people who are important, not the masses.” Day focused on individuals rather than the collective – the “masses” – because the latter risks reducing human beings to statistics, stripping away the unique agency of each person.
As the Horizons program grows and our days get busier, we will continue to embrace the individuality of each participant, emphasizing their gifts, strengths and, indeed, their unique and deeply valued importance.
With gratitude,
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