First, when Michael was little and living in the projects, they were the people who made sure there was food in the house. They are the people who came by to be sure the children had clothing.
In fact, because of them, Michael was first exposed to life outside of the projects. They arranged for a group of kids from the projects to go to a Christmas party hosted by a sorority at Long Beach State. He remembers being in a large room with a Christmas tree, Santa Claus and a present for each kid. But what changed him forever was that these people were different. The room was so different from anything he had ever seen. He realized that there was something else “out there” that he wanted to be part of. That is what was the impetus for him to escape to northern California many years later where he immediately met me.
He said that in the projects, he had been surrounded by three generations of families living on the welfare system. After his family moved out, he only knew people who worked for public agencies. He never met a small businessperson. He never met a person who had an idea and created anything. He never knew people who worked with their hands. They all worked for public entities.
He loved the idea that he could work hard and become anything. No one had ever told him that. Ever.
Secondly, after we sold our first house, we lived with the twin and his first wife for a month while our current house closed escrow. There was a horrific rainstorm, the creek overflowed its banks and flooded the town. We were evacuated at 11:00 at night by the fire department. During the recovery period, the Red Cross set up in a school away from the fray. They did nothing. The people with the Salvation Army knocked on doors, handed out cleaning supplies for the flood damage, brought by free lunches and refused payment of any kind.
They are in the trenches. They are making a difference. They made a huge difference in one little boy's life.
Please, put a little something in the bucket.
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