YouTube
I follow a channel on YouTube called “Invisible People“, it is a channel about homeless people. The guy interviews random homeless people throughout the world. It’s pretty raw and you hear all kinds of stories. This channel is great, because everything I have wanted to ask, he asks! I’ve mentioned this in the past, but everyone has a story and most people want to tell their story to anyone who will listen. I find everyone interesting and want to hear their story.
Adoption
We received our son through the gift of adoption. A very kind girl chose to place her baby with us and we are so thankful to her and her family for making this decision. It has been a very interesting roller-coaster. There is a whole new dynamic to your relationship. Our son has an extra set of grandparents and may have to deal with some things that most kids don’t have to deal with.
Up until a couple years ago, we kept in touch with the Birth-mother (BM). We had a great relationship with her, her husband, and second son. We were invited to birthday parties. She was invited to birthday parties for our son J. It’s been great. A couple years ago, the BM made a poor decision and feel in love with a another person while she was still married and raising a 2 year old boy.
Your choice
Her and her lover ended up being homeless and making very poor decisions. We started getting calls to lend her money, for hotel rooms. Our love for her made us want to give, but we were very hesitant to lend her the money. We told her this was a one shot deal and it had to be used for what the intended purpose was (a room) and nothing else. Come to find out, it wasn’t going to be used for a room for the night, but to help her lover with hormone injections. She tried calling one other time, but we had to remind her about the stipulation. We haven’t heard from her since.
We haven’t had much contact with our BM, but she still posts on FB, so we are able to follow her journey. She has had several family members trying to help her out and give her a hand-up in life. Unfortunately, she has chosen to live a life of homelessness. I wish we could help more, but there isn’t much you can do when they have made this choice.
I know we can’t help much, but it is sad to see the damages she is doing to her life. Explaining all of this to our boy when he grows up is going to be quite interesting. We know they are based up in SLC, so I try and look for them when I’m in the area. I pray for her and her family often! Covid-19 has probably made it harder for them and put them in more danger.
How do we help?
This is the ultimate question. I’m not sure what the answer is, but there are a lot of sites out there and local opportunities to help. Treat them with respect and try and help them out where you can. I’m not sure about you, but I want to make sure my $ goes for good and not something else.