Local Ish: Local Action, Local Results

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Regardless of what religion or holidays you celebrate (because they are no longer one in the same), most people consider this to be the time of year of giving and helping others so what better time to focus on some of the places locally whose whole purpose is to help others?  Yeah there are a lot of national organizations that do very good work (example), but being a writer for this site has sort of made me adopt the “rooting for the little guy” mentality and “these guys (and ladies)” need help more than ever.

Here are 3 Local organizations where even helping a little will go a really long way:

Carpenter’s Shelter – I’ve written an entire post on the good work that is done at this place so I won’t rehash it all here, but I will say that I think their approach is a great one.  Rather than just provide a handout, they take a proactive approach towards getting at the root of the cause…and then working from there.  Not quite a unique approach, but you’d be surprised at how well such a seemingly simple approach works.

Immediate Needs:  baby wipes, cereal, 2 rakes, men’s socks and underwear, over-the-counter medicines

Ongoing Needs:  coffee, 100% juice, cereals, first-aid supplies, toiletry items, new adult underwear and socks, gift cards to Target, Wal-mart, & Old Navy

All items should be dropped off at Carpenter’s Shelter, 930 N. Henry Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For more information, please call Allison Clausen in our Volunteer Office at (703) 548-7500 ext. 205.  You can also donate directly here.

When someone commits and is convicted of a crime, it is very easy to say, “Hey, they got what they deserved.”  But what about the family members left behind?  And also, once their debt to society has been paid, what are we doing to help these individuals as they attempt to restore themselves as productive members of the community?  Again, you could say we don’t owe them anything, but then you are punishing them beyond their sentence.  It also doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if you come out of jail with no job skills, its going to be hard(er) to get hired and illegal methods of acquiring money become that much more attractive.  These next two organizations have each made one of those questions their focus:

Hope House – celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, originally began by  providing “programs to strengthen families and, in particular, the relational bonds between children and their fathers imprisoned far from home” based on the simple idea (seeing a theme here?) that a father doesn’t stop being a Dad just because he is incarcerated.  And before you ask, “What about Mom?…the majority of programs similar to Hope House do focus on the mom (despite the fact that the number of incarcerated mothers is a mere fraction of that of fathers)…so they found a need that wasn’t currently being met and decided to focus their efforts there.

Immediate Needs:  new, unwrapped gifts for their Holiday Party (especially needed are gifts for older children), volunteers to wrap gifts, and companies who would like to donate food

Ongoing Needs:  school supplies, computers, children’s books, adult fiction books, arts & crafts supplies, a high-quality digital camera, and a projector

If you have any of the above that you would like to donate, please contact Carol Fennelly at 301-408-1452.  You can also donate directly here.

OAR (Opportunites, Alternatives, & Resources) – With a focus on restorative justice, OAR’s mission is to “rebuild lives and break the cycle of crime with opportunities, alternatives, and resources for offenders and their families to create a safer community.”  They work to achieve this through a pretty comprehensive network of programs that they offer, from alternative sentencing (such as community restitution) for non-violent, misdemeanor offenders (which saves taxpayer money that would be spent on incarceration), to education and training (with a core focus on developing coping, vocational, and life skills).

Immediate Needs:  men’s and womens coats (larger sizes preferred), new or gently used men’s suits (appropriate for a job interview), new socks and underwear (men’s & women’s), winter clothing (gloves, scarves, hats)

Ongoing Needs:  shoes, shoe laces, book bags/duffel bags, toiletry items, Metro fare cards, old cell phones (to benefit victims of domestic violence), gift cards, gas cards

If you would like to donate an item from their wishlist, please come by the OAR office between the hours of 9:00a.m. – 5:00p.m., Mon.-Fri. except holidays.  You can also donate directly here.

Now I don’t want to highlight these fine programs and all their fine work and then be accused of turning it into a political column in the very last paragraph, so I’ll just end on this last thought; it is pretty amazing what can be done with a clear and direct objective and a proactive approach…

udothedishes…