Two worthy causes

There is something about February. It should be called "Febru-weary". It's the shortest month that feels like the longest month. It's the winter doldrums.

Its the month I let blogging slide. (along with eating right and exercise, I'm sad to admit) Plus, I'm fighting a cold right now.

Fortunately, my present job gives us Presiden't Day off. It's the only job I've ever had where we get this day off. I did a lot of sleeping today, sleeping, drinking tea, taking cold medicine and catching up on things.

Including blogging!

So one of the big ideas for this year in blogging was the weekly charity donation thing. But I seem to have dropped the ball.

So in honor of this Presiden't "catch up day", I'm honoring two charities today. Two related charities.

A few years ago, I worked at a big medical center in Boston. A number of our patients were homeless. During a particularly cold winter like this one, homeless shelters are often booked over capacity with little funding.

When I lived in San Francisco and walked to work every day, I'd pass the same homeless people every day in the same spots. They'd say hi and I'd say hi and if I had a granola bar, I'd give it to them and if the light was against me, we'd talk before I crossed the street. It's much harder to think of homeless people as "less than people" when you see and talk to them every day.

So this week, I'm honoring two local homeless shelters for all the work they do.

The Pine Street Inn provides food, shelter, counseling, job training, and emergency assistance to homeless men and women.

Rosie's Place focuses on poor, homeless, and abused women. It provides food and shelter, advocacy, counseling, mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing assistance, job placement, and health care. They also have a nifty program where the women make and sell crafts that are worth checking out.

I encourage everyone to check out the above websites and also to learn about local shelters that you can support with a donation or by volunteering.

Have a great week!