This is a guest post written by People’s City Mission. You can learn more about People’s City Mission and donate here.
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Let’s be honest here, sometimes when we think of a homeless shelter, we’re thinking “these guys need money.” And although sometimes that’s true, we actually, as well as money, need you. If we’re wanting to reach the homeless and impoverished in Lincoln, then we definitely need all the help we can get. In other words, we honestly couldn’t reach the amount of people we do without your help.
The People’s City Mission is the only homeless shelter in the city of Lincoln. On average we house about 350 men, women, and children who are impoverished and in transient. These are real lives, real kids, real men, and real women who live with us. With that being said, it’s staffed twenty-four hours a day and open 365 days a year. In other words, we never shut down. As you can imagine, it takes the community coming together to keep us running like we do.
Not a lot of people know this, but we are technically one shelter with three different locations. Along with the shelter, we have an incredible distribution center that we call the Help Center. The Help Center takes donations such as food, clothing, household items, furniture, toys and personal care items from the community and in return distributes them to low-income families in the community for no cost. We see it as our duty to take care of those who need our help. We also have a dental clinic that is voluntarily run by professional dental hygienist, counselors, and chiropractors. Not only is it voluntarily run, but it’s also completely free for those who qualify based on need. It’s because of volunteers that we’re able to even do this.
With everything that we do, the generosity of your time is impactful. At PCM volunteers matter tremendously, and because of volunteers, we can reach more people. A little bit of your time can change the trajectory of the lives of many people. One person can’t reach everybody, but one person can reach somebody, and as a volunteer that’s what you do. Together, we can reach and help the homeless and impoverished in the city of Lincoln.
As noted above, we have on average 350 men, women, and children living with us. This means there’s a lot of mouths to feed. On a daily basis we give out more than 800 meals a day and hand out over 100 sack lunches to the homeless on the streets. We’ve created a system to help ensure that we feed each person every day. This system involves volunteers, who generously give of their time to help serve meals for the homeless in our city. We make the meal, but the volunteer helps distribute them to our men, women, and children. Every meal that’s served, every smile that’s given, and every hour that’s invested makes a difference for every child and adult living with us. Join us today and make an imprint on the community.
How does a shelter stay open 24 hours in a day, manages to feed people three times a day, has staff to take care of the impoverished and provide free dental and household items to people? It’s because of people like you. The People’s City Mission is 96% privately funded by businesses, churches, organizations, and individuals. Without the help of the community, we wouldn’t be able to operate at the pace that we do.
A little goes a long way when it comes to feeding someone, providing shelter, and helping keep the electricity on. Not only does your monetary giving provide all these resources for the homeless and impoverished in Lincoln, it also changes the lives of many people and impacts the community at large. It helps, but giving doesn’t have to only come from your wallet. You can also give household items you no longer use, clothing, basic hygiene necessities, food, furniture, toys, and etc. Whether you’re giving your time, money, or any sort of donation, it all matters. We appreciate everyone who has helped us assist over a million people since 1907. Get a hold of us if you want to make your time absolutely matter here!
– The Grateful Staff at People’s City Mission
Please contact Beneen, the Volunteer Director at ballen@pcmlincoln.org or call at 402-475-1303 ext. 114 to find out more information on how you can get involved today!