He's the shelter supervisor for Good Samaritan year-round. I asked if I could sit down with him for about an hour and talk about homeless issues in the area, especially the needs after the holidays. A couple days later we sat in the stuffy shelter office shared by the after school program coordinator and the public health nurse. It's important that they realize that we have these problems in January and throughout the year. Socks, underwear, canned food, even toys are needed every month, both Rylant and Sylvia Barnard, Good Samaritan director, have told me.
Kids have birthdays throughout the year, and the shelter staff like to give presents then.
Christmas time is really unexplainable. People just open up so much and they're very generous. If they were homeless New Year's Eve, they're going to be homeless New Year's Day. It's a very long transitional time to get back to have a place of their own. And every little bit helps.