— from Domenic Verbano —

My fellow islanders, I have a problem. I care about homeless people. They pull at my heart. I see them here, where we live. I see them wandering around the streets of Eastsound. They come into the Co-op, where I work. They buy small amounts of food. I am usually shocked when I see them. They are usually so debilitated… I know one of them pretty well. I have known him for a while. He is kind, meek, and unassuming.

Lately, I have been bringing him food after work. I told him the other day that I would have some. He looked at me with such ego-less, meek gratitude in his eyes. I had never seen that before. God, he could be a Buddhist Saint! I was taken back by what I saw. His heart was pure, it is his body that is deranged. Has this ostracized suffering purified him? I think so.

A companion of his came in with him on a different day. He had open sores all over his face. Was this Meth addiction? I was really in shock. We have a social blind-spot with these people. Arn’t we going to help them? They are suffering. Compared to them, I am affluent.

I created a GoFundMe account specifically for my friend, to get him off the street, to house him for the winter. See I have open to him, and now his suffering is my suffering. Will you also open? Can you help?

I believe we can easily solve the homeless problem here. We need a homeless shelter, and have needed one in the decade I have been here, on Orcas. With the all the wealth here, it shouldn’t be hard. “To the least of these…”

I am putting out the call: Turn your attention to your fellow human being. They are suffering also. Ultimately, their suffering is your suffering. You cannot cage yourself against humanities’ unity. All beings on Planet Earth are united together, and we live in and feel all suffering on this planet, whether we consciously realize it or not.

Here is a link to donate to my friend, to help him find shelter. I will tightly steward these funds.

Larger donations, made in pursuit of helping the homeless in general on Orcas Island, can be directed to the Orcas Community Resource Center at 360-376-3184. I find them to be excellent and dedicated people. Tell them you want your money to work on, like homelessness, and they will direct it accordingly. 

We are all ultimately, unified. Let’s start acting like it.

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