ANNOUNCEMENT: New Socks & Gloves Blog

We would like to announce that we now have a new blog at www.socksandgloves.blogspot.com From now on we will be posting over there, so make sure to subscribe to the new blog and join us in the conversation. We switched because the new blog address will be much easier to remember than this one. Thanks to all who made the Local Justice Blog a great place for conversation. We look forward to continuing to dialogue about Socks & Gloves stuff and local issues over at the new blog.

St Johns Church

I have received word that our favorite place to meet and greet folks will be back in service with no fence around it in June. Exact date was not given. I am looking forward to hanging there again how about you?

Do You Have Time to Be a Good Samaritan?

I saw an interesting article on ABC's Primetime tonight that looked at whether or not people would stop to help a person in need after hearing the story of the good Samaritan.

Much like my own life, the study revealed showed that people in a hurry are much less likely to stop to help people in need.

What stops you from helping people in need? What can you do to build more time into your comings and goings so that you can be more available to help people around you?

The, "Are You A Good Samaritan?" story is part of a Series titled, What Would You Do?. Last week there was an interesting look at whether passersby would stop to help a homeless person who was being harassed or even attacked. See more video clips on the story on stopping abuse to homeless story and others here.

What should we call it?

I've been talking with several of you about an event this summer to help the people we meet on Socks and Gloves outings take the next step finding work to support themselves. The event could include everything in the range from resume coaching, mock interviews, assembling an interview clothes closet, trying to get some local hair salon certificates to give away hair cuts, assisting people by posting work skills on craigs list, etc.

We'll need a location with an Internet connection, people with laptops to capture information, people willing to ask people questions to gather data on work history, skills, etc. I picture us getting a lot of the data together on people at the event, setting up free yahoo or hotmail accounts for those that don't have contact info., and e-mailing out finished content to the guests a 3-10 days after the event.

This is also going to require a lot of intentional relationship building on our part over the coming months so that people begin to feel comfortable enough to share their most confidential information with us - real names, contact addresses, e-mail, and phone numbers for friends/resources to put on resumes. But, I think the approach of partnering with others to help them apply their strengths and skills in the community really represents our heart for the marginalized.

What should we call this, though? We've toyed with ideas like Resume Workshop, Resume Day, Job Hunt Jump Start, Job Hunt Help, etc. It's tough to find something to fit. Some people may not feel like their skills warrant a resume and might not come if we don't explain the concept a little better. Other people might think we have jobs to apply for at the event (which will probably not be the case). Our goal is to help people grow in confidence in looking for jobs that are a match for their skills and to resource them in that search. So... now that you've read a little about this idea upcoming event, what should we call it?

Free Voicemail for San Francisco Homeless

Did you hear about THIS story? Google is giving free phone numbers away for homeless people in San Francisco. What do you think? What are the positives? What are the potential downfalls? Will this help to empower people?

Website Updates

We updated the website a bit at www.socksandgloves.org There are some new events listed as well as a couple of slight design changes. Thanks to Don for providing the Javascript for the email addresses on the contact page.

Outreach Dates March - June 2008

Want to be a part of a Socks and Gloves outreach? Mark your calendar for one or more of the dates below. (If you were given one of the bookmarks seen below before March 2008 be sure to make note of the time changes!)



NOTE: Click on picture to enlarge.

Good Rainy Night

Great job tonight everyone! Welcome to all of our new volunteers from Flood, City Life and Cordova Neighborhood churches. Kudos to you for coming out in such rainy weather. It was a pleasant surprise to see 14 of us huddled with umbrellas for the pre-outreach meet up in the park.

The earlier start time allowed us to go to an area just off of Garden Highway that is a good campsite for a number of people living on the streets.

Keep your calendars marked for the fact that our outreach next month is actually the 5th Sat. in March (the Saturday after Easter).

Grace and Peace!

CHANGE IN TIME: February 23, 2008

For our monthly outing on Saturday February 23rd, we will be meeting at 5pm (not 6pm as published). Last time we went out, the group decided that an hour earlier during this season is going to be best because then we will run into more people. Sorry for the last minute change, but life is full of those, huh.

Did you notice too that we are meeting on Saturday now? Not Sunday - SATURDAY. This is to accomodate anyone from the Flood church who has not been able to come in light of their church service being on Sunday night.

What time are we meeting? ----------------5pm
What day are we meeting? ----------------Saturday

Laundry Stuff

If you haven't heard about Laundry for the Homeless, then I want to fill you in briefly. Over the past probably 4 years we as a group have kept an account at City Sids in Midtown in order to make free laundry available for homeless people. We were able to keep $200.00 at a time in this account and then we would add more money once funds became low. The whole idea behind Laundry for the Homeless is that homeless people deserve the dignity of clean clothes and an opportunity to be presentable for interviews and things like that.


Well, City Suds is no longer in business as of a few weeks ago, so we are going to be looking and praying for a new laundry-mat in Midtown/Downtown. If you have any connections or an inkling toward a particular place, let us know. For now, please look at the website and get familiar with what this program is about and how it works, especially if you are new to Socks & Gloves and are not yet acquainted with it. When we find a new place too, the website will eventually be revamped. The site was originally designed with a community outreach focus from my business, and so some of the language was set up with that in mind. When the site is redesigned though, some wording will change and be updated and the focus will read clearly that this is a Socks & Gloves effort. I am glad to continue to host the site on my webspace though. If anyone out there would be interested in designing a site or a logo for us, that would be tremendous.

Isn't it neat to look back at the past years of service and also to think of all that is in store for 2008 and the amazing opportunities we will have? What are you excited about?