Philly Restart
WHY DON’T YOU JUST GET A JOB?
I used to see someone with a sign asking for money and wonder, “why don’t you just get a job?” Finally, I asked. I found that a common theme for many of them was that they did not have ID. And you need ID to get a job. And you need ID to get ID. And money to pay for it. A vicous cycle. The long into short is that as I got to know these men and women on the streets of Philadelphia, I realized that ‘they’ were not much different from ‘us’…..not much at all. Fathers. Mothers. Brothers. Sisters. Friends. Good friends. Loyal friends.
Many that live on the streets and in the shelters are homeless, but not helpless.
I used to think that the homeless were plagued by drugs, alcohol, and mental illness….and some are. But the river that runs through all of them? No family. No family to bail them out of the situations many of my friends have been in On Monday afternoons in front of Philadelphia’s Free Library on 19th and Vine, we become a family. We serve a meal. We pray. And we love across the lines. And instead of just putting a band-aid on a bleeder, we help them get ID. And that ID allows them to get jobs, to cash work checks, to get into rehab, and stay in shelters. It is only one day a week. The ID’s are only one step. But it is a start. And we are a familly.
UPDATE: Watch a 2011 Comcast piece
Watch our new promotional video 2013
Please come and visit.
The men, women, and children are the strongest testimonies that we have.
Our non-profit status comes through the Helping Hand Rescue Mission (Director: Pastor Matthew Gallashaw)
(helpinghandphilly.org). check them out.
Checks would be made out to “HHRM (RESTART)”. And sent to:
Adam Bruckner
PO BOX 14057
Philadelphia, PA
19122