This particular mission unknowingly started on Feb. 14 (Valentines Day) at First Pres. downtown. The second Saturday of every month members of First Pres. set up tables and hand out soup and sandwiches to the homeless. Everyone came through the line with the happy valentines greeting. I noticed a gentlemen sitting to himself eating his soup. He seemed to be more down and out than the others around him. I made my way over to him and introduced myself. We had small talk about the weather and how good the soup was that day. I finally asked him where he had been staying. In his well educated demeanor he stated that he had been at the Salvation Army for 3 months and that this would be his last night of eligibility at the shelter. You get up to 3 months a year John told me, so tomorrow night he would be sleeping on the streets. He nearly broke down as told me he feared for his life in abandoned buildings not knowing who would try to beat him up or rob him. Before he left, I gave him my number and told John to check in with me during the week.

The mission was was clear, give hope to the homeless. Get John a job and off the streets as quickly as possible.

During the week I met a lady named Patty and explained John and his situation to her. She graciously set up an appointment for him to interview for a warehouse inventory position at her place of employment. After hearing this news John had a glimmer of hope.

The day finally came and John had on the dress pants that he received at the lunch the day I met him. So I drove John to the interview feeling very hopeful and anxious. After 20-30 minutes he came out to the truck looking kind of disappointed. He explained that they didn't have any positions open immediately but would keep his name on file. So for him it would be back to the streets. I couldn't just let him go back without giving it one more shot.

At one of our speaking engagements I had the pleasure of meeting Bruce, owner of the best fast food restaurants in Albany. So I called Bruce just before dropping John back off at the library and explained the situation and he immediately set up an interview for 2:00 that same day. John was excited about the news but didn't want to get his hopes up to much.

At 1:50 we were sitting at the fast food restaurant waiting on an interview that could truly change Johns life. After about 10 minutes of talking to the manager, John climbed back inside the truck and busted out laughing. He said "I start next Wednesday". Chill bumps covered my body as he just sat there and laughed uncontrollably out of pure joy. If that wasn't enough, a good friend of ours has lined up a place for him to stay until he can save enough to get his own place. Thank you Bruce and Cindy (mgr) for giving John a reason to live again.

This mission is officially labeled "Changed"

Mission:Change started in early 2008 as an organization that sought to raise awareness and funds for causes in our home community of Albany, GA through the sale of “mission” specific t-shirts and hand-painted necklaces.

During 2008 we had the opportunity to travel and share the ideas and vision of mission:change to groups in Georgia, Florida and Texas. One question that kept coming up was how could Mission:Change help local causes in other communities as well. After a bit of research, we found one social injustice or cause that all communities have in common and that is hunger and homelessness. This is a bigger issue than most people think. So in 2009 we added the "mission" Hope for the Hungry and Homeless. When you purchase a M:C necklace or T-shirt, 100% of the net proceeds will go directly to housing and feeding someone in need in your community.

What better way of kicking off this campaign than by coming together as a community to sleep-out for one night to experience a fraction of what some people experience for days, weeks or even years.

Over 200 people attended some portion of the sleep-out and 40 stayed the entire night in their make shift box shelter as temperatures dropped to a balmy 28 degrees. Current and former homeless people shared their stories and experiences while representatives from three local organizations, (Flint River Habitat for Humanity, Food Bank of Southwest GA and Albany Rescue Mission), explained their roles in the fight against hunger and homelessness and ways for the community to get involved with their organizations. A local church provided vegetable soup along with lots of hot chocolate for participants throughout the night. During the sleep-out we were able to raise awareness about hunger and homelessness, educate participants on common causes and break the stigma that everyone who is homeless chooses that lifestyle or is a drunk mentally unstable drug addict. Finally everyone was given the opportunity to take action by writing the local mayor and city commissioners asking them to adopt and implement The 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness published by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. These letters will be hand delivered to the next city commission meeting. As a result of the sleep-out, over $7,300 was raised and divided amongst the three organizations listed above along with boxes and boxes of clothing, blankets and canned food. As one “sleeper” was quoted, this wasn’t just an event, it’s the start of a movement in our city.”

For more info. on The 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness visit www.endhomelessness.org or to learn more about mission:change visit www.missionchange.com.

- Todd and La Donna Urick