August 24th, 1995 was my last day homeless. It was also my last day drinking and using. I was one of the worst of the worst. I was severely addicted to drugs, homeless and hopeless. If you saw me back on the streets when I was homeless, you would have walked over to the other side. I was really bad.<\/p>\n
It’s a miracle that I am even talking to you today. It’s a huge miracle that on August 24th of this year I will celebrate 22 years of sobriety.<\/p>\n
Another miracle is the nonprofit I founded. Invisible People has reached over 1.5 billion people in the last five years, and thanks to people just like you, we reach millions of people every month, educating them about homelessness and solutions to end it.<\/p>\n
Why that’s so important is we are never going to end homelessness unless we have the support of the general public. Yet most people will not support homeless services or support ending homelessness because they believe the homeless person deserves it. That it’s their fault. That the homeless person causes their own homelessness. Most people blame homelessness on the person instead of on the lack of affordable housing, a lack of a living wage, childhood trauma or all the many reasons that are actually out of a person’s control that can cause homelessness.<\/p>\n
We need to teach the general public the real truths about homelessness because they are reacting out of fear. Most people, outside of the homeless services sector, hate homeless people. We need to change that.<\/p>\n
Invisible People is the only education-based nonprofit working to end homelessness on a national level, and it’s all thanks to you. Without your support, our important work stops.<\/p>\n
This year I’m asking everybody to help celebrate my sober birthday, by visiting our Patreon campaign here<\/a> and pledging $2 a month to support Invisible People’s important work. $2 a month or $24 a year, my sober birthday is on the 24th, August 24th, 24th of 24.<\/p>\n Over the years, Invisible People has proven that we can do a lot with a little. Imagine the impact if we had the adequate support to reach our potential.<\/p>\n If you can pledge more than $2 a month, please, we need your help. If you like to just make a one-time donation, click here<\/a> or on the donation link in the website menu. The last couple of years, I’ve done traditional fund raising campaigns on my sober birthday, this year, I’m hoping that we can reach a number of our goals on Patreon.<\/p>\n Patreon has given me new hope that someday, very soon, I’ll be able to dedicate 100% of my time and energy and effort to Invisible People and ending homelessness. With your help, that can happen. Please visit our Patreon campaign and pledge $2 a month, $24 a year to help celebrate my sober birthday on August 24th. Thank you so very much for helping me celebrate 22 years of sobriety in supporting Invisible People’s important work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" August 24th, 1995 was my last day homeless. It was also my last day drinking and using. I was one of the worst of the worst. I was severely addicted to drugs, homeless and hopeless. If you saw me back … Continue reading