Thank you for your support. We are so deeply grateful for your kind words, for your gifts and financial donations.
We are just heading into the fall/winter season which is always a difficult time for those who live on the street or survive hand to mouth. We felt our numbers had peaked last year and it could not get busier, but to our surprise many new faces started showing up this year from long term residents to people passing through. We have seen an increase in families, the elderly and women running from abusive situations.
The largest increase has been families and the elderly of our community. Manna found ourselves relocating women to safe houses outside our community due to the increase in numbers in other agencies. The Oceanside RCMP have been very compassionate as we have worked with them a number of times giving out tents, etc.
Because of the drought, odd jobs such as cutting grass or landscaping were not available to some of our clients. Without these earnings they will not be able to afford to get indoors this winter.
There has also been an increase in drug related problems where we work with individuals as well as families suffering from the effects of addiction. Government cutbacks are becoming very evident when working with the vulnerable. I saw an individual with multiple physical and mental issues take up to nine months to finally be placed on a disability pension. This person suffered physically and emotionally to get through this trying time. Unfortunately, our system is a failure for the less fortunate so we need to continue to help these people to the best of our ability.
The lack of affordable housing is a huge problem. Manna feels the brunt of this so we are in need of more tents and tarps, sleeping bags, warm coats, gloves, hats and emergency food supplies for the upcoming winter season. We are also asking for funds so that we can place extreme cases into motels for a short term until we can find something more adequate.
Manna’s bike program has been very successful in our community and we are in need of good bikes to keep the program going. If anyone has a bike they are not using that is in good shape we would like it. A bike can be a life changer for the less fortunate.
Attitude is everything and we still deal with some people in the public who have a hard heart and say that we are nothing but a bandage for the less fortunate. We continue to tell our critics that in some cases a bandage is needed to stop the bleeding so healing can begin. There is no one solution for the problems of the less fortunate in Oceanside, but with the continued help of people like yourself we will continue to serve the less fortunate seven days a week with 100% volunteer help. Donations and gifts go directly to helping the homeless and less fortunate.
Please remember those in need as the weather gets wetter and temperatures dip down during the long nights. Thank you for all your support. We couldn’t do it without you.
Many Blessings,
Robin Campbell