For the next 8 Mondays we will be featuring a guest blog from our friend James Cira. He will be doing two four part series. We hope that you enjoy.
My name is James Cira, but everyone at Arnold's knows me as Jimmy. I have been coming to Arnold's for quite sometime and, through my experiences at the most wonderfully eccentric bar & grill in the city, I have developed some amazing relationships that I will have for the rest of my life. One of those friendships is with Ronda Androski, and she has graciously invited me to write two four-part blogs over the next eight weeks. Since I am working hard to launch my own blog, I thought this would be a great opportunity to gain a little exposure and touch on some of the issues that are greatly important me. They also have quite an impact on the city that I love, as well. Therefore, without further adieu, I feel that is extremely important that we discuss the issue of homelessness in our city.
During the holiday season, we are always thinking of charity. Everywhere we go, we are asked to give to the less fortunate. Whether it is with the Salvation Army outside of the grocery store, the Toys for Tots barrels manned by the Marines, or donating to the Ruth Lyons' Children's Fund - We all gladly donate our money because it is the right thing to do. I was volunteering in a soup kitchen over Christmas and volunteers were pouring in to serve up holiday meals, donating fresh baked cookies with red and green sprinkles, and even bringing their children to teach them what the season is "all about". Unfortunately, once the Christmas trees come down and the lights are turned off until next season, this enthusiasm dramatically ends with the cold, bitter winds of January.
As the days grow longer and the snow blows in, that is exactly when our charity is most needed, especially for the homeless. Sometimes, I try to put myself in the shoes of a homeless person. What if I burned all of my bridges, had doors closed on me by my friends, and lost my apartment as a result? In a short time, I could be homeless. Out on the streets, alone, searching for a way to eat, and trying to find a dry, warm place to sleep. To be honest, with that thought in my mind, that is why I give change from my pocket and donate my time to a soup kitchen.
Did you realize, according to the website of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, that a shocking 3.5 million people could experience homelessness at any given time during the year, and approximately 744,000 men and women could be homeless at any given night in the United States! Now, let's take a look our local statistics in order to really understand this crisis. In the Queen City, we have about 25,000 people who have experienced homelessness at any given point during the year, with between 1,300 and 1,500 are homeless every night! Within our city, 25% of our homeless population are children and almost half are five years old or younger. With a child of my own, this number absolutely breaks my heart.
With that being said, I will no longer be standing on the sidelines as an innocent bystander. My mom always told me that it is my duty to leave the earth in better shape than when I got here. Even if I can impact just a couple of lives and create some positive change, I have done my duty. Therefore, I am taking a step to helping out the homeless within our community. During the holidays, I started volunteering at the Saint Francis Seraph soup kitchen on the corner of Liberty and Vine streets, in the heart of Over-the-Rhine. In speaking with the Director of the soup kitchen, he told me that he is always overwhelmed with volunteers in December, but that number dramatically decreases in January. Therefore, I have made a commitment to volunteer once per week at Saint Francis and to write about my experiences here for the next for weeks. I look forward to sharing my experiences with each and every one of you and, hopefully, I can inspire someone to volunteer, as well.
