House of Refuge
P.O. Box 1371
Morganton, NC 28680
828.403.6515
House of Refuge Ministries
A refuge for the poor . . . A shelter from the storm
Isaiah 25:4
Isaiah 25:4
House of Refuge
P.O. Box 1371
Morganton, NC 28680
828.403.6515
The idea for Backpacks for the Homeless
sprang from the 2008
Point-In-Time count. We knew it would be difficult to survey those on the
streets and camped out so we asked agencies for incentives that we could pass
out. Thanks to some friends of Burke United Christian Ministries, area
motels, McDonalds and church groups, we were able to pull together a backpack
that included a blanket, socks, gloves, toboggans, toiletries, a cheeseburger
and pie. These gifts were well received and appreciated by the folks
we met and counted. After some prayer and thinking about a homeless man
found frozen to death in nearby Charlotte, we realized that it was simplistic to
view the backpacks we distributed as merely an incentive to participate in the
survey. The backpacks were more realistically survival kits for the
homeless around us. With all of the churches in Burke County it seemed a
really sad testament that anyone should die here from hunger or from the cold,
or that anyone should BE hungry or cold. It occurred to us it doesn't do
much good to feed people one day and have them freeze in a Rite Aid parking lot
the next night.Backpacks for the Homeless means buying a used backpack for $1.50 at the thrift store, purchasing low cost life sustaining items to fill up the bag. It DOESN'T mean going to Wal-Mart and buying a bunch of new stuff. Spending a large sum of money on ONE backpack is the antithesis of this idea. The crux, the beauty and the fun of this idea is to shop at dollar stores and thrift stores for used goods, which will allow your dollar to go further, thus allowing you to help more people. You can also easily purchase most of the items needed to stock a bag on your regular grocery run.