What can you do to help?

What can you do to help this holiday season?
That is what I’ve asked myself over and over again.
I’ve come to the conclusion I want to do something that doesn’t help one family but many!
Here in MA there is a home called Jessie’s House. It houses homeless families with young children until they get off their feet. The average family stays 4-6 month but due to the economy getting worse so is housing. The shelter has been struggling for the past couple of years to hang on and I’d love to do my part to help it continue!

“At Jessie’s House, over 40 families a year receive supportive shelter, food, case-management, life skills education, and referrals to other community services–Amherst Family Center, The Literacy Project, and Everywoman’s Center, to name a few. Through our outreach program, we also assist families in the transition out of shelter and provide extensive stabilization supports once they find permanent homes.”

I’m sure your curious as to why I chose Jessie’s House out of all the places I could have chosen. See the beautiful woman below in the picture? That is Jessie Benoit. That is also my great grandmother. She passed away a few years ago but her heart and her soul was poured into helping people. She never turned anyone away from a hot meal just because they were incapable of paying. When my mother gave birth to me she was a junior in high school and no where to go. It was my great grandmother who took us in. It’s time for me to give back.

“Jessie’s House was named for Jessie Benoit, who for many years at her Red Lion Diner on Strong Avenue in Northampton provided hot meals for a pittance, part-time jobs for needy regulars, and friendly encouragement to the homeless and penniless. White first heard of Benoit while she was conducting her county homelessness survey. Local police officers told her the Red Lion was the place to which they regularly referred the homeless and the hungry. Jessie became a part-time staff member at Jessie’s House after bequeathing her diner to her daughter Kathy and continued to work at the shelter until her retirement in 2001. Jessie passed away in 2003 but her legacy of compassion lives on at Jessie’s House.“

If you know of a company that is looking to make donations or if you are a company interested please let me know. I reach out to bloggers as well that are consumed with products they’ve been sent to review and have no use for.

If you have any ideas or would like to reach out. Please contact me at:
jleighjd@aol.com