A Better Day..

Every other week I deliver food to home bound seniors in an apartment complex as part of my volunteer efforts with Community Harvest Food Bank. I want to give you a bit of background on the type of apartments these are and the people that inhabit them.

Throughout any city there are people that get older and can no longer live on their own or maintain a house like they may have at one time. These individuals may or may not have health issues, but most do. They may or may not have any family left and if they do, they don't invite their aging family members to live with them. They do not have any income and most likely have not saved for retirement. They are living on government dollars. Since they are living on government dollars, it is dictated where they live. Up until now, the story doesn't seem that bad or that uncommon. Unless you've ever seen one of these apartment complexes, you won't understand the life these people will live out until they pass on or get placed in a nursing home.

These apartment buildings at best are very outdated. Imagine an apartment from the 70's or 80's with dim-lighted hallways with linoleum tiled floors. Imagine living there alone and in an apartment that is very small. Imagine being there alone with no organized activities, and unless you have major health issues, no regular visitors. Then they are very paranoid about visitors from all the people that attempt to prey on them. You can begin to see why people would begin losing their mind.

Now, I'm not sure if the people that live there are actually losing their mind or believe they have it all that bad, but I can probably be certain that they would have liked it to turn out better for them. And I get to be humbled every other week when I deliver a measly 20lbs of food to help them out every other week. It perplexes me how some of these people survive without someone else. There is a grocery store a short walk away, but as I spoke with one woman today, that's hard for her and takes everything she's got to get there and back. Without someone else to help out, would she go hungry? Would anyone ever know? Would anyone even care?

Tough questions that I don't have answers for.. I'm sure they've seen better days and wish for better days. I even wonder what a better day would look like in their eyes. What would a better day in your life look like? What does it look like for you to aid in helping a person obtain their better day?

There is a song by Ben Harper called a "Better Way." Check it out...

http://www.benharper.net/?section=music&page=lyrics&id=270

I believe in a better way... just not sure how to make that happen.