Everyone Deserves Empathy, Dignity and a Safe Place to Rest

I started with Matthew’s Hope in March 2025, and it has been a blessing ever since. Before starting here, I never really gave much thought to seeing a homeless person on the street. I thought most were either drug users or panhandlers that just didn’t want to work. After seeing some of these souls I now know that this is just not true and my eyes are opened to so much more.

I go out into the community with our Mobile Teams to feed any homeless people that we find. We find new homeless people every day we are out. Seeing some of the living conditions completely breaks my heart. Some sleep surrounded by trash, in empty business doorways, in garbage containers, benches, sidewalks, woods and any place that they think they may be able to lay their head down and get some rest without being assaulted, robbed or arrested.

On Tuesday and Thursday, we see our guests at our Brevard Campus for outreach services. We can see as many as 150-200 guests. They come in for hot meals, hot showers, clean clothes, toiletries, pantry items, and visit the medical team if needed. When they come in, many are very dirty from living in the elements and extremely hungry. Some will come in full of mosquito bites or spider bites.

Seeing this firsthand has changed my mind on how I look at anyone who is homeless. It is a pleasure when a guest comes up to me and gives me a big hug and tells me how much they truly appreciate everything that I do to help them try to move forward and they say I Love You!

We give them resources from managing money, putting them in touch with other food pantries that they can go to throughout the week, setting up an appointment with the Brevard Homeless Coalition, treatment centers for alcohol and drug abuse and mental health therapy just to mention a few.

As we know life is very hard for many of us but extremely hard for anyone that may be experiencing homelessness. This is why I do what I do because everyone deserves empathy, dignity and a safe place to rest.