Addressing the many needs of those experiencing homelessness can be daunting. It can often be difficult to know where to start and how to help. Thankfully, there are people and organizations doing great work for unhoused people in your community. Stephanie McCabe, Random Acts Assistant HR Manager for Recruiting, reached out to the Clara White Mission in Jacksonville, Florida, to find out how she could support people experiencing homelessness in her community.
A Powerful Mission
The Clara White Mission was established over 100 years ago by humanitarian and philanthropist Dr. Eartha M. M. White. The organization offers a variety of services and programs to support those experiencing homelessness in the Jacksonville area. They distribute hot meals five days a week, run a food pantry three days a week, provide permanent and supportive housing, organize job training and employment placement programs, and manage a 10.5-acre urban farm and training center called White Harvest Farms. The Clara White Mission offers many different ways for people to get involved and support their mission.
Stephanie decided to support the Clara White Mission after reading about their urban farming program. She reached out to the Mission before she went shopping for donations to see what their current needs were. “I wanted to make sure I was bringing them groceries that they could use and not something that they already had an overabundance of,” Stephanie says. Thanks to our generous donors, Stephanie was able to purchase so much food that she needed to bring her daughter to push an extra shopping cart! The items that were most needed at the time were shelf-stable items like breakfast cereal as well as perishable items like vegetables, meat, and dairy products.
More Than Meals
Thanks to the people at the Clara White Mission, delivering the donations was easy and enjoyable. “The staff were incredibly kind. One of them spent some time talking to my daughter about her plans for her future,” said Stephanie. The experience was so positive that Stephanie highly encourages those in the Jacksonville area to volunteer with the Clara White Mission if they can! “The Clara White Mission offers more than meals for the hungry and transitional housing for the homeless. They offer hope and a way out of the misery of a life on the streets,” Stephanie explains. “Their goal is to restore those in need to meaningful, dignified lives in the community.”
