Woman alone in a cold world

[WanderingRose]

I agree about food stamps, the problem for some being the process of application, need based screening and having to return on a schedule to keep them going.

All or part of that is difficult or impossible to some, for whatever reason. Some of it may be prior experience with social services, mental health issues, substance abuse, etc.

The thing about a soup kitchen is that there are basically no questions asked, no scrutiny of your life, how you got there, no judgment on whether you could or should be doing better for yourself, etc.

If you need a meal, they will feed you, meeting a basic survival need.

Township assistance, help from churches, etc., are also part of the safety net in place, just community based rather than federal.

They can provide short term, limited, emergency assistance, that food stamps and a medical card cannot.

I don’t know about township assistance funds, and whether they are required to be offered if there are certain kinds of federal monies coming in.

I know that is true for Hill/Burton funding for medical care that many hospitals offer.

Maybe someone else here knows.

 

[Dingfelder]

Well, you have to define soup kitchens I guess. Maybe it's my own ignorance.

But here, and as elsewhere going back a century, free food meant sitting through sometimes hours of religious lectures, inspections, lessons, etc. Was the "free food" free? Very very far from so. The help offered was in many sense still starvation wages -- do whatever was asked, however nonsensical or demeaning, however against one's own principles or belief -- or starve. Betray your conscience as you dare. Openly confess you differ? Goodbye.

Charity?

 

[travelaround]

So true, religious services should be optional, not mandatory, for charities, in my opinion. I'm not sure how that would work around here. The only charity I've been to here in North Idaho is the food bank, a while back, and though there were Christians volunteering there, there were never any services.

About 20 years ago I went to a soup kitchen once, at a ministry supported by several churches, and that was lunch only, and no sermon.

Other than that, I don't have much experience with it. I have heard people complain that they had to listen to a sermon of some kind at a homeless shelter. I don't think that's all homeless shelters, but some.

 

[WanderingRose]

By “soup kitchens”, I am referring to places where you simply line up and get a meal.

They are in place to feed the homeless and the hungry.

There may be a prayer for you, but if you aren’t into that just being silent and respectful works.

 

[Moxadox]

In the not too distant past I used soup kitchens as a treatment for my depression. Somehow, going into a place that is designed to do nothing but feed the hungry opens up my soul like nothing else. In my early life I was a chef, so pumping out hundreds of meals is kind of natural for me. I once showed up at the Rescue Mission in Seattle on Thanksgiving morning, to find that their head cook had been suddenly taken ill. I had been scheduled to serve, but they were desperate for a cook, so I stepped into the kitchen, threw on an apron, and cooked 400 Thanksgiving meals. People kept showing up, so I scrounged around, found stuff in the pantry and just kept cooking until everyone got a meal. I don't think I've ever had a better Turkey Day. I highly recommend soup kitchens, both for eating and for volunteering. They are good for the soul.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[travelaround]

I might try that, Dire Wolfess - I don't have much volunteer experience in that kind of environment. I have worked in a restaurant kitchen and enjoyed that. Can't say I'm a chef but I enjoy the work. The little mountain town I used to live in had community Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and I helped prepare the food once - it was a large crowd, similar to a soup kitchen. Lots of fun.

 

[LivGolden]

This sounds like a good plan for this year's holidays - wherever I am.  :heart:

 

[Moxadox]

Wherever y'all are, if it happens to be near where I am (Feral Fred will likely be there too, and he looooves to feed people), there will be hot eats emanating from our camp! Let me know how many, and bring yer place settings. Thanksgiving, Xmas, and of course potato latkes because Chanukah falls out the first week of December this year!

The Dire Wolfess

 

[LivGolden]

Thanks, Dire-Wolfess. My "plan" is to leave here no later than Dec. 12th. Q suggested Oatmeal, AZ for a stop before heading to WRTR/RTR. It looks good. I'm going to contact my friend in Tucson to see if she will be home for Christmas - she travels sometimes home to Hong Kong...If I'm in the Tucson area, I will give you a call. I can be...Thanks, again. Liv

 

[Moxadox]

Last year, Feral Fred made roast beef for Christmas! If he does it again this year I will certainly make Yorkshire pudding to go with.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[LivGolden]

Yorkshire Pudding! Sounds wonderful.

 

[travelaround]

Wild. Well, I'd love the potato latkes! I'll probably still be here for Christmas, anyway. My daughter lives nearby in a skoolie and shows no signs yet of moving it elsewhere... although today she looked at me and said, "Yesterday we took the bus to the store." (Her jeep is out of commission this week.) So I said, "I didn't know the bus ran on that street." (Thinking of the bus system.) She just looked at me. I said, "Oh, the BUS!" They hadn't moved it in about three months so I almost forgot it moved. They live in it - after a while it starts looking just like any other house.