A Helping Hand In The Homeless Community Analysis
A Helping Hand in the Homeless Community
By Cherish Miles
There is a large number of homeless, mentally ill, and drug addicted people in the Costa Mesa area that many residents are unaware of. Fourteen years ago Lindah Miles, the mother of six children, was driving down Anaheim avenue in Costa Mesa on the way to the market. As she was driving she saw a little broken down old church named The Lighthouse.
She noticed there were about forty homeless people waiting in a line outside. Out of curiosity, she stepped inside wondering what was taking place. Inside there were very limited resources for these people in need.
“There was only rice and coffee” she describes.
With knowledge that there is so much wealth in Orange County, Lindah was shocked to see the lack of care toward these people. “One street over there are ferraris parked in front of the market, so it is shocking knowing …show more content…
there is such need so close” she said with a caring heart. “I could not believe nobody was helping or cared, I could not believe I missed it too” she said.
Lindah felt a need in her heart to get connected with this church and help in any way she could. So she did.
She organized many lunches, dinners, and gatherings for these people with her own money, and the numbers of homeless people started to grow. Forty people turned into eighty, and as time went on she realized every Saturday dinner had double the amount of homeless people than the last. She started to reach out to the drug-addicted population and got connected with many treatment facilities. “Placing people in treatment is not as easy as it should be” she says. “There are more drug addicts in the homeless population than mentally ill or other groups.” says the New York Times. Lindah places many people in treatment every week, and is always asking her “friends” on the street if they are ready to treat their addiction.
Lindah does not refer to homeless people as homeless people.
She calls all of them her friends because they are more than just what society labels them as. “They are sometimes not treated like human beings” she said, “it breaks my heart.” All of them have a story to tell and Lindah sees more in them than just someone who needs food and shelter.
Realizing the mentally ill takes up a big portion of the homeless population also, Lindah reached out and started to find ways to get them their proper medication, and basic needs. The Orange County Register states, “One in five people experiencing homelessness has a severe mental illness.” Dealing with people that carry two major disabilities at once can be quite challenging, but Lindah works her hardest to accomplish what others see as impossible.
After fourteen years of hard work, Lindah has gotten the Lighthouse to the point where it serves 2,000 meals, hands out about 370 bags of groceries per week to lonely elders and families in need. Also, the church has bible study once a week which helps the community mentally, and
spiritually.
In the past eleven months, she has placed 103 drug addicted people in treatment facilities. “I am very proud of my accomplishments this past year, and I am so happy to help those people in need” she states. This lifestyle is not only feeding homeless people and driving drug-addicts to facilities, or getting medication for the mentally ill, but it takes so much more hard work and time. Lindah is practically always on the phone, getting donations or volunteers, or calling treatment facilities. Sometimes she is even on the phone with some of the homeless people. In some cases they not only need food, they also need hope, love, and someone to guide them in the right direction.
On top of all of her hard work with the Lighthouse church, Lindah also owns a sober-living house that has room for nine women. A few years after getting involved with the Lighthouse, she realized that there were mostly only sober-living houses for men. She decided to invest in a house that will provide a place for women as a step out of detox and treatment, but a step toward a new normal life.
Some homeless people would describe Lindah as “an angel sent down from Heaven”. Whoever she is helping along, she does not judge their past, and she gives a full effort to get them what they need. One woman that Lindah has helped transformed from a deeply struggling heroine addict mother to a successful, sober, and working parent that has recently been married and is now pregnant. She describes Lindah as her “guardian angel”.
“It's the way that we seem to look away that bothers Lindah Miles.” says the Orange County Register. Her compassionate heart cannot turn down any cry for help. She seemed to notice the ignorance the city was showing to the homeless population, so she wanted to do something to change that. Ever since then she has worked with the city of Costa Mesa on their task force.
From the Outreach Director at the Lighthouse Ministries in Costa Mesa, owning the Honor House, a sober living place for woman, and working on the task force of Costa Mesa, Lindah is a very busy woman. She is not busy shopping or going to brunch with friends, but she is busy doing selfless, kind-hearted acts that most people would not want to do. In her free time, which there is not much of, she finds extra things to do to change people’s life for the better.
I cannot begin to explain how thankful I am to call this woman my mother. She has shown me how to love others, and taught me what it means to care for people. She is the perfect example of a humble, caring, and compassionate individual.
By Cherish Miles
There is a large number of homeless, mentally ill, and drug addicted people in the Costa Mesa area that many residents are unaware of. Fourteen years ago Lindah Miles, the mother of six children, was driving down Anaheim avenue in Costa Mesa on the way to the market. As she was driving she saw a little broken down old church named The Lighthouse.
She noticed there were about forty homeless people waiting in a line outside. Out of curiosity, she stepped inside wondering what was taking place. Inside there were very limited resources for these people in need.
“There was only rice and coffee” she describes.
With knowledge that there is so much wealth in Orange County, Lindah was shocked to see the lack of care toward these people. “One street over there are ferraris parked in front of the market, so it is shocking knowing …show more content…
there is such need so close” she said with a caring heart. “I could not believe nobody was helping or cared, I could not believe I missed it too” she said.
Lindah felt a need in her heart to get connected with this church and help in any way she could. So she did.
She organized many lunches, dinners, and gatherings for these people with her own money, and the numbers of homeless people started to grow. Forty people turned into eighty, and as time went on she realized every Saturday dinner had double the amount of homeless people than the last. She started to reach out to the drug-addicted population and got connected with many treatment facilities. “Placing people in treatment is not as easy as it should be” she says. “There are more drug addicts in the homeless population than mentally ill or other groups.” says the New York Times. Lindah places many people in treatment every week, and is always asking her “friends” on the street if they are ready to treat their addiction.
Lindah does not refer to homeless people as homeless people.
She calls all of them her friends because they are more than just what society labels them as. “They are sometimes not treated like human beings” she said, “it breaks my heart.” All of them have a story to tell and Lindah sees more in them than just someone who needs food and shelter.
Realizing the mentally ill takes up a big portion of the homeless population also, Lindah reached out and started to find ways to get them their proper medication, and basic needs. The Orange County Register states, “One in five people experiencing homelessness has a severe mental illness.” Dealing with people that carry two major disabilities at once can be quite challenging, but Lindah works her hardest to accomplish what others see as impossible.
After fourteen years of hard work, Lindah has gotten the Lighthouse to the point where it serves 2,000 meals, hands out about 370 bags of groceries per week to lonely elders and families in need. Also, the church has bible study once a week which helps the community mentally, and
spiritually.
In the past eleven months, she has placed 103 drug addicted people in treatment facilities. “I am very proud of my accomplishments this past year, and I am so happy to help those people in need” she states. This lifestyle is not only feeding homeless people and driving drug-addicts to facilities, or getting medication for the mentally ill, but it takes so much more hard work and time. Lindah is practically always on the phone, getting donations or volunteers, or calling treatment facilities. Sometimes she is even on the phone with some of the homeless people. In some cases they not only need food, they also need hope, love, and someone to guide them in the right direction.
On top of all of her hard work with the Lighthouse church, Lindah also owns a sober-living house that has room for nine women. A few years after getting involved with the Lighthouse, she realized that there were mostly only sober-living houses for men. She decided to invest in a house that will provide a place for women as a step out of detox and treatment, but a step toward a new normal life.
Some homeless people would describe Lindah as “an angel sent down from Heaven”. Whoever she is helping along, she does not judge their past, and she gives a full effort to get them what they need. One woman that Lindah has helped transformed from a deeply struggling heroine addict mother to a successful, sober, and working parent that has recently been married and is now pregnant. She describes Lindah as her “guardian angel”.
“It's the way that we seem to look away that bothers Lindah Miles.” says the Orange County Register. Her compassionate heart cannot turn down any cry for help. She seemed to notice the ignorance the city was showing to the homeless population, so she wanted to do something to change that. Ever since then she has worked with the city of Costa Mesa on their task force.
From the Outreach Director at the Lighthouse Ministries in Costa Mesa, owning the Honor House, a sober living place for woman, and working on the task force of Costa Mesa, Lindah is a very busy woman. She is not busy shopping or going to brunch with friends, but she is busy doing selfless, kind-hearted acts that most people would not want to do. In her free time, which there is not much of, she finds extra things to do to change people’s life for the better.
I cannot begin to explain how thankful I am to call this woman my mother. She has shown me how to love others, and taught me what it means to care for people. She is the perfect example of a humble, caring, and compassionate individual.