Do Your Part

Same Kind of Different as Me is one of those books that motivates its readers to get out and do something to better the community. No doubt that readers of this book will definitely never look at the homeless the same way ever again. Some may do their part by giving money to one of the homeless guys they saw down the street while others may feel inspired to volunteer their time at homeless shelters as Ron and Deborah did. Hey, if you are feeling super inspired, you might even do both! Whatever the case, I am providing websites for homeless shelters in Amarillo, Texas, and if Ron, Deborah, and Denver had any impact on you at all, maybe you will want to check these places out.

The first shelter I am providing a link for is the Union Gospel Mission of Fort Worth. If you remember, this is the shelter that the Halls met Denver. It might be a pretty cool place to visit, and who knows? Maybe you will even see Ron and his lovely new wife! Union Gospel Mission: http://www.ugm-tc.org/.

Faith City Ministries is a great place to volunteer. They not only feed the poor, but they also cloth them and provide other material items they may need. Their website is: http://faithcity.org/.
If you need more encouragement, here is a video that describes exactly what they are all about.

Another Chance House is a place for homeless or low income males to find refuge. This would be a great place to volunteer if you are a guy looking for other guys to bond with. Their website is: http://www.anotherchancehouse.org/#.

Of course, there also has to be a shelter for just the ladies! Downtown Women's Center states their mission as, "To provide housing and services to overcome homelessness and addiction." It is incredibly easy to volunteer or provide financial support for the center. Their website is: http://www.dwcenter.org/index.php.

Martha's Home is another shelter in Amarillo. It mainly focuses on women that have children. They provide homes and services that teach homeless people how to survive on their own. Their website is: http://www.marthashome.org/index.php. Here is a video that describes Martha's Home and the work they do.

Family Support Center is a shelter that puts their main focus in families or individuals that have faced particularly rough times. These challenges include family violence, sexual assault, divorce, abuse, and more. If you feel a need to donate or volunteer here, their website is: http://fss-ama.org/.

The last website is actually a food bank rather than a shelter. The High Plains Food Bank works to feed the hungry in the Texas Panhandle. In fact, many schools in the Panhandle area raise canned foods to donate to the food bank. The High Plains Food Bank does not only provide food for those that need it, they also educate people about food stamps, CHiPS, and how to make good food choices. It is wonderfully easy to volunteer, and their website is: http://www.hpfb.org/home.

As you can see, there are many places people can go to volunteer. The websites I provided, apart from the Union Gospel Mission, are all in Amarillo, so imagine how many shelters are in the entire state of Texas! I encourage you to take Ron and Denver's message to heart and get involved!