What’s Christmas Like for the Homeless?
Gail's Story
“Honestly, I was kind of down going into Christmas,” admits Gail, who spent last Christmas in our Family Shelter with her three daughters. Gail wasn’t alone. Most parents who spend the holidays in a homeless shelter are heartbroken that they can’t provide their children with a traditional family Christmas.
“Christmas is supposed to be in your own home, not in a shelter,” Gail explains. “But at the same time, I was really grateful for what the Mission did for me.” Before coming here, Gail and her girls were living in a cheap hotel. She’d lost her job and her house, and when her last penny was gone, she had no choice but to come here.
But as Gail and her girls joined in the Mission’s Christmas festivities her depression lifted. Along with other families in our New Life Program, they participated in our community outreach, taking gifts and spreading cheer to low-income residents confined to nursing homes. “We sang carols, and they all had big smiles on their faces,” Gail remembers.
On Christmas Eve, she and other NLP members cooked a traditional feast with turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce. “Everyone pitched in, and it was fun,” Gail says. “Having other people around me really encouraged me a lot.”
And just as if she was home again, she had the joy of watching her girls tear into brightly wrapped gifts, donated by caring friends like you. “It lifted my spirits,” she says.
