Opinion/Brown: Homeless for the holidays. Here's how we can help

It's that time of year. Temperatures drop to levels painful — or even lethal — for anyone with no shelter at night. In 2023, 49 Cape and Islanders died while homeless or of the medical consequences of homelessness. The youngest was 25; the oldest was 88. They were living and dying right under our noses.

It's also that time of year: Christmas and the holidays. It's a time when traditionally we think of ways we might ease the burden for some of our neighbors. In recent years, I kept hearing stories of something people do with their children and grandchildren. If they have the means to do it, they set aside a fund each year and encourage their youngest generations to pick an organization to support. This year, I'd like to offer you a list of local organizations that provide shelter, food, and emergency services for our struggling neighbors.

Shelter is the most basic. If someone needs housing right now, their best choice would be St. Joseph House in Hyannis. They have 60 beds for men and women, three meals a day and useful programs to help people get back on their feet.

Hyannis offers two other shelter programs with a long track record of accomplishment: Champ Homes and Homeless not Hopeless shelters. Both have multiple buildings for men and women, meals and programs to help people find work. The two programs house some 80 men and women. All three shelters try to connect their residents with programs that address specific needs, physical and emotional. The two organizations reflect differing philosophical approaches. Champ Homes is run by a professional staff; Homeless not Hopeless, wherever possible, is staffed by people who have been formerly homeless themselves.

Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) in Hyannis provides emergency shelter and homelessness-prevention assistance for individuals and families. HAC develops affordable housing for seniors, families and individuals; and provides an opportunity to become a homeowner with a full-service nonprofit real estate office.

The Cape also supports victims of sexual and domestic violence, some of whom are either unhoused or fleeing from dangerous circumstances. The Safe Harbor Shelter in Hyannis offers a refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence. As you can imagine, a program like this provides not only safe living units but a whole galaxy of other supports needed to help them transition into new, healthy, and fear-free lives.

Independence House, also in Hyannis, has emergency short-term housing but they specialize in programs for victims — old and young — of sexual and domestic violence. Children's Cove on Mary Dunn Road in Barnstable specializes in young victims of sexual abuse. The good news is that both organizations have been around for a long time and do a wonderful job. The bad news is that we have had a continual need on Cape Cod for services like theirs.

Our Duffy Health Center on Park Street in Hyannis offers psychological, medical and drug rehabilitation programs for people who might otherwise be unable to afford quality services like theirs.

We've seen the bumper stickers praising random acts of kindness, but even better are organized acts of kindness. Catholic Charities with its base in Fall River and the Cape Cod Council of Churches with offices in the Federated Church of Hyannis are certainly worth your look. Both support a wide range of programs. Catholic Charities support the St. Joseph House in Hyannis, Christ the King food pantry in Mashpee, and offers an array of other services.

The Council of Churches runs food pantries such as the one in Harwich, and the Faith Family Kitchen in Hyannis with hot meals for families and individuals who need them — and the wonderful A Baby Center that provides free formula, diapers, clothing, cribs and car seats for parents struggling to afford them.

The Health Ministry in Hyannis offers a wide array of health and social services and has a Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking staff. The Family Table Collaborative has prepared and distributed more than 94,000 meals, soups, and other food items for our community.

We shouldn't forget Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center that provides emergency housing, a food pantry, and a friendly space for veterans to come in out of the cold and get help and company when they need it.

“Donor fatigue” is a real problem. It seems these days that everyone has their hands out for themselves or someone else. The wider world has its problems too, wars, famines, and millions of desperate refugees trying to catch a break. So many good causes … a finite supply of time and money. If you, dear reader, have enough to eat and a warm place to sleep at night, I'm not asking you to feel guilty. I'm asking you to feel grateful. But for one or two rolls of the dice, we too might be on the outside looking in, our cold noses pressed against the restaurant window.

Every faith — and common decency besides — commands us to love. To love is to accept responsibility. We can all do something. We can all give our children opportunities, however modest, to make the world a little bit kinder, a little bit warmer for our neighbors who struggle in times like these.

Lawrence Brown is a columnist for the Cape Cod Times. Email him at columnresponse@gmail.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Lawrence Brown: Make the world a little bit kinder, a bit warmer