Letter: Shelter Needs Volunteers

It is important for the community to be aware of the homeless women and men in our community, so we were happy to see the article on Rebecca’s Tent in your Rosh Hashanah issue (“Rebecca’s Tent: More Than Shelter” by Candice Gulden, Sept. 15). Homelessness is a sad and difficult problem that is invisible to many of us and requires the support and efforts of many to make a real difference.

As mentioned in the article, we have provided shelter to more than 1,000 homeless women, but what was not mentioned was that this important humanitarian work would not have been possible without the hundreds of volunteers who have given their time each shelter season. Volunteers are a cornerstone of Rebecca’s Tent, and we could not provide any services or improve the lives of any of the homeless without them.

As we prepare for a new shelter season, we need more volunteers to fill important roles in the shelter’s operations. They include dinner volunteers who serve the ladies dinner each evening and make sack lunches for the next day, and volunteers to prepare hot meals for nightly dinners. We also need volunteers to teach empowerment sessions on life skills, job readiness skills and computer training, as well as people to help with administrative jobs and small tasks that keep us going from day to day.

We hope that no one will feel helpless when they learn about the many women and men who must sleep on the streets or in their cars every night. We would be very happy to put anyone and everyone to work to help solve this awful societal problem. Please contact us at www.rebeccastent.org, or call me at 404-873-3147, and we will make you a part of the solution.

— Tasho Wesley, executive director, Rebecca’s Tent, Atlanta