By JACKIE TAYLOR | November 26, 2025

Holidays and helping people

My dad and I were out a couple of weekends ago and hit a Chick Fil-A for lunch. We ordered, found a spot to sit down in the crowded restaurant and waited for our sandwiches. 

We happened to have sat next to a man that was obviously down on his luck, looked homeless and was in a world of his own.

By world of his own, I mean he and several of his best friends that occupied his head, were having a conversation.

It was interesting to watch people’s reaction around him; uncomfortable was probably the best word. The man was having a conversation with himself about being kicked out of a library, and he was obviously upset over it. 

With that, I don’t think most of us know how to approach that situation; and, we, myself included, ignore it and go on about our business.

My dad and I ended up sitting outside and soaked up sunshine on the warm day. One man looked like he was in pain sitting next the homeless fellow, very interesting, indeed.

AI Overview on Google reported, “The percentage of the U.S. population experiencing homelessness is less than 1%, though the exact percentage varies depending on the definition used and the time of measurement. A 2024 count found about 2.3 per 1,000 people were homeless, or approximately 0.23%, while a 2023 count showed around 653,100 people, or about 0.2% of the population.”

What could cause someone to become homeless? Again, from Google, “The main cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing, often exacerbated by poverty, unemployment and low wages. Other significant contributing factors include mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence and other personal crises that create instability. Homelessness is typically the result of a combination of systemic issues and individual circumstances.”

So, what do we do in our community? We have very few homeless people; some are homeless due to drugs, mental illness and choices they’ve made.

Finding homes in this county is difficult. Rent is high and good rentals are far and few between. If this county needs anything, it’s an affordable apartment complex – one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

Churches and civic groups kicked into gear over the last couple of weeks to help those in need with food. Several food pantries exist in the county, and, several churches stepped up and organized food drives for food to be distributed to those down on their luck or in tough circumstances.

Thankfully, this county is very generous. The food drive we organized at the First Christian Church helped feed 30 to 35 families over the Thanksgiving holiday. Food from meat to milk to canned goods was donated and purchased to be given away, and that was only one food drive going on around the county.

I recently took the suicide awareness class the SEK Mental Health offers in an effort to learn what to say to people who might be looking to harm themselves. It was great training and I highly recommend it – one hour and you’re outfitted with great information that might save someone’s life.

With that, I think we need a countywide group that can deal with helping people; it needs to pull resources together and train people where to look for help to assist others.

We, as a nation, and as a county, have been blessed. We don’t face many of the ills that other communities face. We don’t have seriously mentally ill men and women frequenting our businesses; but that doesn’t mean we all don’t need to know where to call to get help for someone.

We’ve been blessed; we need to share that blessing.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.