Mobile Loaves & Fishes Blog

Press Release from City of Austin Regarding the #homeless and Pets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2010
Contacts: Barbara Rush: (512) 925-2271


Plan Implemented to Provide Shelter for the Homeless & Their Pets During Extreme Cold Weather


The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department has implemented a plan to shelter pets for homeless Austinites during cold weather events. A priority of the emergency response plan calls for sheltering pets at the same location as the pet owner.

“Our primary concern is that we provide our homeless citizens and their pets a safe and secure place to stay,” says Council Member Laura Morrison. “When the temperature dips to extreme lows, we want people to know they can come in from the cold and feel assured that they and their pets will be cared for.”

The City of Austin’s recreation centers, used as temporary shelters when demand is high, have indoor spaces that can be used to shelter animals with their owners. When a homeless individual is being transported to a recreation center, the animal control staff will transport their pets to the same facility.

The ARCH and Salvation Army are Austin’s primary shelters, but cannot accommodate animals indoor. For pets whose owners are sheltered at those locations during extreme weather, the pets will be transported to off-site shelter for the night and returned to their owner the next morning.

All Austinites in need of shelter, including those with pets should go to the ARCH. Located at: 500 East 7th St. (7th at Neches)
For help transporting pets to the ARCH – Call 305-4160 (ask for Manager on Duty)



Barbara Rush
Policy Advisor
Office of City Council Member Laura Morrison
512-974-1625 / 512-974-1886 (Fax)
[email protected]
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/morrison.htm

30 People Delivering Water to #Homeless In ATX From Their Cars. Can You Help?

We have a small army of folks delivering water from their own vehicles to the people who find themselves living on the streets of Austin, Texas.  Empowering people to serve in this way can really avert a disaster.  Dehydration can lead to some pretty devastating health issues.  The heat index in Austin is consistently 105 degrees and higher and puts all of us at high risk to dehydration particularly the homeless.  Here is how you can become a part of this growing army:

• We have an unlimited supply of water and ice at our commissary in West Lake Hills (www.mlfnow.org/directions).  If you come tonight (July 6) at 6:30 PM you can be trained on how to access those supplies at your convenience.  All you need is an ice chest and your own vehicle.  If this time does not work for you let us know and we will accommodate your schedule, or

• You can simply go purchase your own water to hand out.  I have seen case prices at around $3.77 per case.  Even if the water is not iced down it makes a big difference.  Water is water regardless of the temperature and provides fluid to our internal cooling system.  So just load up your car and hand water out to anyone who you see along the way that is in need.

 Click here and see what Kim has to say about the need for water on the streets and then get involved and help us change the world one human at a time!

-Alan

Photo and Video Essay Delivering Water To The #Homeless On July 4th

Today, July 4th, 2009 we spent delivering water to the homeless on the streets of Austin, Texas.  The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory as the heat index was expected to soar above 105 degrees.  This type of heat can be devastating to the human person, particularly those who live outside.  Help us keep them hydrated.  Here is what you can do:

• Carry water with you to hand out as you go about your day
• Donate $$ to Mobile Loaves and Fishes and we will hand it out.  Go to www.mlfnow.org/water to donate
• Tell your friends what we are up to and ask them to help
• Post a donation form to your blog or website to raise $$ for us.  Use the html code below:

<script src="https://widgets.kimbia.com/widgets/form.js?channel=givewater.kimbia.com/water"></script>

Check out the photo pictorial and videos of today's events below:

-Alan
 

More stories at Starbucks Coffee

Powered by Whrrl

Here we go again with extremely high temperatures in Austin.  The impact on the human person when the heat index rises into the mid 100 degree range is pretty profound.  We need your help now!  There are a couple of options:

• Make a micro donation now by filling in the form below
• Post this donation form below on  your blog or website and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to help.  Use this html source code below: 

<script src="https://widgets.kimbia.com/widgets/form.js?channel=givewater.kimbia.com/water"></script>

• Send an email to [email protected] if you would like to learn how you can deliver water from your car as you go about your daily business.  You provide a car and ice chest and we will provide water and ice.

• Point your friends to http://www.mlfnow.org/water to make a donation as well.

Our brothers & sisters thank you!!

-Alan

Gary, is a friend of mine who is now 8 months sober from an addiction to heroin.  This post is written as a perspective on ensuring that our brothers and sisters stay hydrated and how important it is.  Mobile Loaves & Fishes is not only raising funds to hydrate our brothers and sisters (www.mlfnow.org/water) we are also assembling a small army of folks that are interested in delivering water (read previous posts) to these brothers and sisters on the streets.

-Alan

"Go on, get out of here. This is private property."; "Darn, this one doesn't have a handle on the spigot either."; "Come on, hurry up! It may be dark but what if they come outside?"

   - Fear, desperation, necessity. My name is Gary M. and for the past three summers I spent everyday of my life standing on the hot pavement for hours on end, trying to panhandle enough money to make it through the day. I went to any length to make the money I needed, even if it meant standing there all day 7 days/week. For those of you that may be unaware, the last three summers (plus this year) have had a record number of days per month with 100 degree plus temperatures. My face and arms have peeled at least three times per summer. People that knew me before I 'hit' the streets have commented that I appear to have aged 10 years. I have peeled scabs from my ears and nose because I failed to hydrate properly on a daily basis and still have possible carcinomas from exposure. My brothers and sisters, I don't have to tell you it's hot out there. Step out of the a/c in your cars, offices, and homes for 30 minutes. It's obvious.

    Out of desperation, we would go to any length to retrieve water. Out of necessity we took a chance that we might be arrested for getting a drink from somebody else's hydrant. We lived in fear of going to jail, or dying of thirst. I don't know if you have ever been that desperate, but I pray you will never have to experience it.

    If you understand anything about the reasons why some people are homeless you should know that they may be out there by no fault of their own. If you do not understand, then read on further in this Blog, or spend fifteen minutes with Alan Graham and you will never hear it more clearly. The point is, for whatever reason an individual may be 'living' on the street, you probably agree all humans have the right to a drink of water when they are thirsty.

    My personal reason for being 'homeless' is not important. What is important is the opportunity you have when you give that 'gentile' a drink. When Jesus visited Jacob's well, as shared in the new testament of the Christian Bible, He used the opportunity of sharing with another thirsty individual the Word of God. He shared with a Samaritan (considered unclean humans) woman in John 4:13,14 - 'Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Take the opportunity, you may have the chance to save their life twice. First, they may not die of thirst. Second, what you share may help them make a decision to change their life. They may not end up, as many of my brothers and sisters have, dying on the streets of Austin, TX or Anytown, USA from the elements and illnesses aquired while living in 'deplorable' conditions.

     I lived the life and am still alive today by the Grace of a loving God and the 'angels' that shared water that quenched my thirst for awhile, and eternal water that quenched my thirst for life. Because those angels shared their eternal water with me, today I am a recovered Heroin addict and living in a 4 br/2 bath brick home (a Sobriety House). Today I have been clean and sober for 8 months. Today I work, pay rent, and get a drink of water from the kitchen faucet like most of you. I receive eternal water from the Christian Bible. If you share with others like me, they may drink from that eternal well. If they don't, you still may quench their physical thirst and allow them the gift of living one more day. For God's sake, if not theirs, help them live to see God's beauty one more time.

-Gary

We are under a heat alert here in Central Texas.  EMS calls are up dramatically for heat related calls.  We need more water.  Click the donate button below to make a difference.

City of Austin Councilmember Laura Morrison the brainchild behind the collaboration between the City and Mobile Loaves & Fishes at the Convention Center as we load up a ton of water.

-Alan

It’s unbelievably hot outside.   When you hop in the car to get the day started, you can’t bear to touch the steering wheel until it’s cooled off, but when it does you can go on your way.  You are a sweaty mess just walking from your car to your destination, but once you are where you need to be, the cool air graces you and you are refreshed.  You crank your AC up in your house and grab some ice cold water because that heat is intolerable and within minutes you can breathe again. 

 

Now, imagine you are a person who is homeless.  You have nowhere to escape from the fiery hand of the sun and nothing to quench that thirst.    

That’s where we all come in.  You are cordially invited to join us in our mission to KEEP AUSTIN COOL!  Here is all we need from you:  if you have or can get a pickup truck and/or SUV and an ice chest, come on down to our commissary in the West Lake Hills area (email us at [email protected] for precise instructions/directions) where we will supply plenty of water bottles and ice for you to pass out to our brothers and sisters in need, all summer if you are game.  THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO DO!!!  You see your sister on the side of the road, give her some water.  You see your brother at the bus stop resting and wiping his brow, give him some water.   See, that’s not so hard.

-Alan

Can you believe it?  Exactly ten years ago tonight, October 13, 1998.  It was a Tuesday and myself along with Pat Patterson, Bruce Agness, Jack Selman, Mark White and Houston Flake loaded up 75 sack meals into the back of Pat Patterson's green mini-van and headed out onto the streets of Austin with our eyes and ears and scout Houston Flake.

  That is Houston on the left and me on the right.  Houston passed away to our Lord back in 2002; he had bladder cancer.  What was unique about Houston is that he was born in the same year I was; 1955.  But he was born to homeless parents and he himself spent most of his life living on the streets.  Two beautiful Lay Missionaries of Charity women, Laura Campbell and Elinor Reese met him in the early 90's on the streets here in Austin.  They loved on him and over the years became close personal friends with Houston.  Sometime around the time we were brainstorming Mobile Loaves & Fishes (can you imagine 5 white guys from Westlake Hills thinking they were going to go out and feed the homeless) these wonderful ladies helped get Houston a job as a custodian at St. John Neumann Catholic Church where we all were parishioners.

Thank God!  We really did not know what we were doing in terms of actually going out onto the streets to serve.  Houston became our eyes and ears.  He along with my four other founding brothers went out on that awesome first trip ten years ago.  Then in 2000 Houston contracted cancer in his bladder and just like that he was gone.  I feel that it is as if God had planted him for this purpose of being our guide even if it were only for a moment; to hold our hands and walk us through a wall of spiritual predjudice and fear.  Thank you Jesus and Thank you Houston!

 

Beginning on the left that is Pat, me, Mark, Bruce and Jack.  Pat was and is our scrounger; he can get anything at just about anytime for the best price.  Mark, well he is a social worker here in Austin and is very gifted and understands people in some very special ways.  Then Bruce; he is who I shared the idea with the first time and said "I'll put five hun into it", meaning $500.  He hasn't stopped giving yet.  One of the most generous people I have ever met.  Now Jack; Jack is a lawyer and Jack guided us through all of the legal maze of setting up a non profit.  Jack has a strong business sense.  All of these men are my closest friends.  I call them my brothers from another mother.

Outside of our Lord the greatest partner one could have is my wife Tricia.  She is truly my best friend.  She is the first one I shared the idea with and I was with her and another close friend Mary Ann Simmons when the vision happened.  Mary Ann was telling Tricia and I about a ministry in Corpus Christi that she and her husband Clint participated where several churches would come together on cold winter nights to take needed supplies out to the folks that lived on the streets.  Providentially it was at that moment that the image of a catering truck entered my mind as a distribution vehicle to take stuff to the folks on the streets; to go where they are and to serve them with love and the abundance of God.

So here we are today 10 years later.  WOW!  Now 16 trucks, 12,000 volunteers now having served about 1.5 million meals located in five cities in four states.  What a birthday.  To all of those who have volunteered in any way by the giving of their time, talent and treasure I can only say THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!  You are truly awesome.  Share some love today...you have sure shared a lot of love over the past 10 years.

-Alan

Another wonderful letter from Galveston, TX.  Thank you again to all of you who helped to make those relief trips possible!

-Rachel

I just wanted to contact someone about the mobile unit that was in Galveston this past Sunday, September 28th. As we have worked so hard to clean out my Mother's home of 34 years, the mobile truck came through just in time and passed out a bag filled with a sandwich, oreos, chips, and an orange to my starving husband. He is a fragile type 1 diabetic and we needed that for sure, as he worked so hard for days. We had a few snacks that we brought and some drinking water, but as you have seen, it resembles a war zone there and there isn't much in the way of food. Moms home was flooded with three feet of water inside and we are working hard to repair it. We all were born and raised on the Island and never have we seen the destruction like this.

 

I too served in a non-profit world capacity for three years working for the Houston Food Bank and know what it means when you get kudos given back to your hard working volunteers. Again, I would like to thank you and your volunteers, and it is people like you that really do make a difference!

 

April P., Galveston, TX

-Alan

The Heat Wave Is On Again! Need Water NOW! #homeless

Here we go again with extremely high temperatures in Austin.  The impact on the human person when the heat index rises into the mid 100 degree range is pretty profound.  We need your help now!  There are a couple of options:

• Make a micro donation now by filling in the form below
• Post this donation form below on  your blog or website and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to help.  Use this html source code below: 

<script src="https://widgets.kimbia.com/widgets/form.js?channel=givewater.kimbia.com/water"></script>

• Send an email to [email protected] if you would like to learn how you can deliver water from your car as you go about your daily business.  You provide a car and ice chest and we will provide water and ice.

• Point your friends to http://www.mlfnow.org/water to make a donation as well.

Our brothers & sisters thank you!!

-Alan

Darn, this one doesn't have a handle on the spigot either. #homeless

Gary, is a friend of mine who is now 8 months sober from an addiction to heroin.  This post is written as a perspective on ensuring that our brothers and sisters stay hydrated and how important it is.  Mobile Loaves & Fishes is not only raising funds to hydrate our brothers and sisters (www.mlfnow.org/water) we are also assembling a small army of folks that are interested in delivering water (read previous posts) to these brothers and sisters on the streets.

-Alan

"Go on, get out of here. This is private property."; "Darn, this one doesn't have a handle on the spigot either."; "Come on, hurry up! It may be dark but what if they come outside?"

   - Fear, desperation, necessity. My name is Gary M. and for the past three summers I spent everyday of my life standing on the hot pavement for hours on end, trying to panhandle enough money to make it through the day. I went to any length to make the money I needed, even if it meant standing there all day 7 days/week. For those of you that may be unaware, the last three summers (plus this year) have had a record number of days per month with 100 degree plus temperatures. My face and arms have peeled at least three times per summer. People that knew me before I 'hit' the streets have commented that I appear to have aged 10 years. I have peeled scabs from my ears and nose because I failed to hydrate properly on a daily basis and still have possible carcinomas from exposure. My brothers and sisters, I don't have to tell you it's hot out there. Step out of the a/c in your cars, offices, and homes for 30 minutes. It's obvious.

    Out of desperation, we would go to any length to retrieve water. Out of necessity we took a chance that we might be arrested for getting a drink from somebody else's hydrant. We lived in fear of going to jail, or dying of thirst. I don't know if you have ever been that desperate, but I pray you will never have to experience it.

    If you understand anything about the reasons why some people are homeless you should know that they may be out there by no fault of their own. If you do not understand, then read on further in this Blog, or spend fifteen minutes with Alan Graham and you will never hear it more clearly. The point is, for whatever reason an individual may be 'living' on the street, you probably agree all humans have the right to a drink of water when they are thirsty.

    My personal reason for being 'homeless' is not important. What is important is the opportunity you have when you give that 'gentile' a drink. When Jesus visited Jacob's well, as shared in the new testament of the Christian Bible, He used the opportunity of sharing with another thirsty individual the Word of God. He shared with a Samaritan (considered unclean humans) woman in John 4:13,14 - 'Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Take the opportunity, you may have the chance to save their life twice. First, they may not die of thirst. Second, what you share may help them make a decision to change their life. They may not end up, as many of my brothers and sisters have, dying on the streets of Austin, TX or Anytown, USA from the elements and illnesses aquired while living in 'deplorable' conditions.

     I lived the life and am still alive today by the Grace of a loving God and the 'angels' that shared water that quenched my thirst for awhile, and eternal water that quenched my thirst for life. Because those angels shared their eternal water with me, today I am a recovered Heroin addict and living in a 4 br/2 bath brick home (a Sobriety House). Today I have been clean and sober for 8 months. Today I work, pay rent, and get a drink of water from the kitchen faucet like most of you. I receive eternal water from the Christian Bible. If you share with others like me, they may drink from that eternal well. If they don't, you still may quench their physical thirst and allow them the gift of living one more day. For God's sake, if not theirs, help them live to see God's beauty one more time.

-Gary

It Is Still Hotter Than Hades Out There! Need 'Mo Water Now! #homeless

We are under a heat alert here in Central Texas.  EMS calls are up dramatically for heat related calls.  We need more water.  Click the donate button below to make a difference.

City of Austin Councilmember Laura Morrison the brainchild behind the collaboration between the City and Mobile Loaves & Fishes at the Convention Center as we load up a ton of water.

-Alan

Can You Help Deliver Water to the #Homeless All Summer?

It’s unbelievably hot outside.   When you hop in the car to get the day started, you can’t bear to touch the steering wheel until it’s cooled off, but when it does you can go on your way.  You are a sweaty mess just walking from your car to your destination, but once you are where you need to be, the cool air graces you and you are refreshed.  You crank your AC up in your house and grab some ice cold water because that heat is intolerable and within minutes you can breathe again. 

 

Now, imagine you are a person who is homeless.  You have nowhere to escape from the fiery hand of the sun and nothing to quench that thirst.    

That’s where we all come in.  You are cordially invited to join us in our mission to KEEP AUSTIN COOL!  Here is all we need from you:  if you have or can get a pickup truck and/or SUV and an ice chest, come on down to our commissary in the West Lake Hills area (email us at [email protected] for precise instructions/directions) where we will supply plenty of water bottles and ice for you to pass out to our brothers and sisters in need, all summer if you are game.  THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO DO!!!  You see your sister on the side of the road, give her some water.  You see your brother at the bus stop resting and wiping his brow, give him some water.   See, that’s not so hard.

-Alan

Happy Birthday To Us! 10 Years

Can you believe it?  Exactly ten years ago tonight, October 13, 1998.  It was a Tuesday and myself along with Pat Patterson, Bruce Agness, Jack Selman, Mark White and Houston Flake loaded up 75 sack meals into the back of Pat Patterson's green mini-van and headed out onto the streets of Austin with our eyes and ears and scout Houston Flake.

  That is Houston on the left and me on the right.  Houston passed away to our Lord back in 2002; he had bladder cancer.  What was unique about Houston is that he was born in the same year I was; 1955.  But he was born to homeless parents and he himself spent most of his life living on the streets.  Two beautiful Lay Missionaries of Charity women, Laura Campbell and Elinor Reese met him in the early 90's on the streets here in Austin.  They loved on him and over the years became close personal friends with Houston.  Sometime around the time we were brainstorming Mobile Loaves & Fishes (can you imagine 5 white guys from Westlake Hills thinking they were going to go out and feed the homeless) these wonderful ladies helped get Houston a job as a custodian at St. John Neumann Catholic Church where we all were parishioners.

Thank God!  We really did not know what we were doing in terms of actually going out onto the streets to serve.  Houston became our eyes and ears.  He along with my four other founding brothers went out on that awesome first trip ten years ago.  Then in 2000 Houston contracted cancer in his bladder and just like that he was gone.  I feel that it is as if God had planted him for this purpose of being our guide even if it were only for a moment; to hold our hands and walk us through a wall of spiritual predjudice and fear.  Thank you Jesus and Thank you Houston!

 

Beginning on the left that is Pat, me, Mark, Bruce and Jack.  Pat was and is our scrounger; he can get anything at just about anytime for the best price.  Mark, well he is a social worker here in Austin and is very gifted and understands people in some very special ways.  Then Bruce; he is who I shared the idea with the first time and said "I'll put five hun into it", meaning $500.  He hasn't stopped giving yet.  One of the most generous people I have ever met.  Now Jack; Jack is a lawyer and Jack guided us through all of the legal maze of setting up a non profit.  Jack has a strong business sense.  All of these men are my closest friends.  I call them my brothers from another mother.

Outside of our Lord the greatest partner one could have is my wife Tricia.  She is truly my best friend.  She is the first one I shared the idea with and I was with her and another close friend Mary Ann Simmons when the vision happened.  Mary Ann was telling Tricia and I about a ministry in Corpus Christi that she and her husband Clint participated where several churches would come together on cold winter nights to take needed supplies out to the folks that lived on the streets.  Providentially it was at that moment that the image of a catering truck entered my mind as a distribution vehicle to take stuff to the folks on the streets; to go where they are and to serve them with love and the abundance of God.

So here we are today 10 years later.  WOW!  Now 16 trucks, 12,000 volunteers now having served about 1.5 million meals located in five cities in four states.  What a birthday.  To all of those who have volunteered in any way by the giving of their time, talent and treasure I can only say THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!  You are truly awesome.  Share some love today...you have sure shared a lot of love over the past 10 years.

-Alan

"People Like You Really Do Make a Difference": Words From Galveston, TX

Another wonderful letter from Galveston, TX.  Thank you again to all of you who helped to make those relief trips possible!

-Rachel

I just wanted to contact someone about the mobile unit that was in Galveston this past Sunday, September 28th. As we have worked so hard to clean out my Mother's home of 34 years, the mobile truck came through just in time and passed out a bag filled with a sandwich, oreos, chips, and an orange to my starving husband. He is a fragile type 1 diabetic and we needed that for sure, as he worked so hard for days. We had a few snacks that we brought and some drinking water, but as you have seen, it resembles a war zone there and there isn't much in the way of food. Moms home was flooded with three feet of water inside and we are working hard to repair it. We all were born and raised on the Island and never have we seen the destruction like this.

 

I too served in a non-profit world capacity for three years working for the Houston Food Bank and know what it means when you get kudos given back to your hard working volunteers. Again, I would like to thank you and your volunteers, and it is people like you that really do make a difference!

 

April P., Galveston, TX

Hurricane Ike Trip # 3

-Alan