HomePDX

This post was on my friend Donna's MySpace today; I'm reposting it here with her permission. Donna is the one on the far right, with the baseball cap.

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I've discovered that in the process of living this life there have been an incredible cast of characters who have wandered thru in various forms and fashions.

These guys with me in the photo above are no exception. They are my friends and I love them dearly. One of the things I love about them is they all have big hearts and open minds ...ok, and the amazing capacity to drink more than one beer and not have to pee all night...yes, I have bladder envy!!

Not all of the group was here for this photo but they make up the core team for a church called HOMEPDX, here in Portland founded by Ken Loyd (gray hair black glasses). Cool article about him Nov 11th in the Oregonian which can be found here www.oregonianlive.com, you'll have to do a search for the name of the article to find it which is, "A New Testament kind of guy".

Today this group of people I love is hurting, financially for one but more importantly a girl who they had been getting to know named Amber died yesterday. She won't have an article about her in the paper or her face pasted on the evening news. Her family might not even know about her passing for awhile.

I want to remember her today, she was 22, had cancer and was living on the streets. She couldn't get good medical care...trust me, if you are homeless the "system" doesn't care and there was no one to pick up the tab for her to get the treatment she needed.

The cancer didn't kill her, she od'd...I don't know the details but she did have people here who cared about her ...please say a prayer for them today...they have big hearts that are hurting.

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That Oregonian article about HomePDX that Donna mentioned can be found HERE.

HomePDX is a plant of The Bridge Church; it is a church for "people without houses"which meets in downtown Portland. Until recently, they were meeting, literally, under a bridge, now they are renting space in a downtown Church.

HomePDX meets downtown, where most of Portland's "people without houses" congregate. The people who come to HomePDX are treated with dignity and respect...as Ken likes to say, "These people are my friends" And they are. They are served a meal and a short message each Sunday, and they provided with opportunities and supplies to practice art and music. They are also supplied with socks, hoodies, toiletries, hand warmers, and other items as they are available.

HomePDX is supported by area churches, who take turns providing the meal. I don't know all of them, but I do know Bob Hyatt's church Evergreen Community is a regular supporter.

HomePDX could use help in paying the rent on the space they use in a local church. They also are always in need of white men's tube crew socks and black XL hoodie sweatshirts, among other things. If you would like to help support HomePDX, contact me (erinword at gmail dot com) and I'll hook you up with more info.

To learn more about HomePDX, here are some links:

Rick Meigs a.k.a. The Blind Beggar - HomePDX
Pam Hogeweide - The Birth of A Church and White Gold
MySpace slideshow about HomePDX
You Tube video about it.
Off the Map Live interview with Ken