January 30, 2018
I live in Austin, Texas (the original hippie city of the South), which launched the careers of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Janis Joplin, and is home to the University of Texas, Dell Computers, and festivals such as SXSW and Austin City Limits.
Because Austin received so many of the misfits, geniuses, and creative people of the world, it also was very welcoming to the folks who were down on their luck — the homeless, the addicted, and those most in need.
It’s not uncommon to see panhandlers on busy street corners and intersections. What people don’t know, however, is that the majority (75 percent) of the homeless people served by The Salvation Army in Austin are women and children. To meet the local need, Austin’s Salvation Army Area Command has a shelter specifically for women and children, which is often at capacity.
This brings me to my story. I’m not a big coffee drinker, but now that there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts nearby, I’ll go out of my way to have it at least a couple times a week, as it’s my favorite. I bring up Dunkin’ Donuts because when I go, there’s a homeless woman who often hangs around there.
Recently, when the temperatures dropped to around 30 degrees, I went through the drive-thru, and then pulled into one of the spaces that was adjacent to the dumpster. I had to jump on a conference call, and as I was on the call, I saw the lady’s cart. I thought maybe she’d left it there, and was inside warming up or getting coffee.
When I finished the call, I realized that she was sleeping on the ground, covered in her blankets during this super cold morning. I drove home, grabbed hats, gloves, a scarf, and a blanket, and brought it back to her. And the next time I see her there, I’m going to give her the The Salvation Army’s information, so that if she wants a permanent solution, she can stay at the women’s shelter and make her way back to getting back on her feet.
Before I worked with The Salvation Army at TrueSense, I don’t think I would have had the courage to reach out and offer that woman hope and a hand up — but now, I feel like I can better understand what those served by The Salvation Army go through … and how one person, one organization can make a difference.
Stacey has been an Account Director at TrueSense Marketing for three years, working on several Salvation Army clients: The Metropolitan (Chicagoland) Division, Southwest Division, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Division, and Austin Area Command and San Antonio Area Command from the Texas Division. She lives in Austin, Texas with her rescue dog Lucy, barn cat Blue, and senior cat Lexie. Stacey loves chips and queso, cheering for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and baking using old-fashioned recipes.