This Week, Remember the Homeless

On any given night in the United States, over 750,000 are estimated to be out on the streets. To give them a voice, the week before Thanksgiving each year is designated as National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

The National Coalition for the Homeless has produced a manual for Homeless Awareness Week with suggested events such as a "One Night Without a Home" community vigil,  the Urban Plunge, and Oxfam America's Fast for a World Harvest.

Homelessness is not someone else's problem - it is our problem, and it is preventable if we work together to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. The National Coalition for the Homeless supports, through its Bringing America Home Campaign, wide-ranging legislation to protect every American's right to affordable housing, health care, and a living wage. The legislation would also grant temporary laborers the same protections that apply to permanent workers, and would ensure that homeless persons have the right to vote. As we give thanks for what we have been given, let us also give hope to the marginalized of our society.