Be aware

Imagine the feeling that you get when you come home after a hard day at work. You take your shoes off, change to your comfortable clothes, grab a nice snack from your fridge and plump on the nice cushioned couch and turn on your TV. The Air Conditioning is on if it is hot outside or the heather is on if it is cold outside, giving you relief. Imagine the sense of piece, comfort and security that you have at that moment.
When your children come home from school imagine the feeling that you get when you have fed them with a nice meal and tasty desert and have sent them each to their rooms to work on their homework. Imagine how you feel when you are washing their dishes in your kitchen sink and placing the leftovers in your full fridge. Then you open your kitchen cupboards and start preparing their lunch for the next day. Imagine your feeling of satisfaction, pride and accomplishment. You feel happy about being able to take such good care of your children and providing them with a nice, meal, home and life.
Now imagine if your "home" was a motel room with two beds, a one foot fridge and a small TV in one small square. Your bathroom sink is where you use to wash your face in the morning and the same one you use to wash your dishes at night. You do not own one piece of furniture in the motel room and can be kicked out to the street at any time. You cannot cook or store food as you wish because you do not have a stove or room in the fridge. Your children come "home" from school to a place where they have to do their homework, watch TV, have dinner, change clothes and sleep all in the same room. You are not able to provide the minimum and basic necessities for your children, yet they still have posted their drawings and tests on the wall in order to feel some kind of security. Imagine the shame and pity you feel when you have to look into your children's eyes and tell them that there is no more food to eat. Imagine the sorrow in your heart when your child is ashamed to bring a friend "home" from school.
I want you to imagine this because I want you to know that your life is privileged and that the other life really does exist, more than you could imagine. There are thousands of families who live in motel rooms that they struggle to pay for weekly. Children who know that smelly and old room as their "home" where they live with their family. Children who go to school with all of the other kids but know nothing of their own room, a kitchen table, a birthday party or a back yard. Mothers who take the bus to food banks in order to be able to feed their children at night. I want you to be aware that this style of life is in your neighborhoods, in your streets and in your community. So take your head out of the sand and at least be aware!