There are so many organization in the United States that work to help homeless people. There are groups that feed them, give them shelter, and help them find jobs. While these are all great ways to helps, they don't identify these people as normal or like everyone else. One of the amazing things Streetbooks does is help these people become educated readers and show the world that the people living outside, as they call them, are not so different from the rest of the educated community. They're not just giving books, they're telling the people of Portland that those people are just like you and me. They are sending a message, and to me thats the most important thing you can do with a non-profit organization.
The patrons don't have to give their names and Streetbooks doesn't even have a way to ensure that they'll get the books back except trust. This may seem a little risky, but this system has worked and people have returned the books. It would be difficult for me to trust that I would get the books back and I would have to have some chart or graph to know what I gave out, where, and to whom.
This organization is really doing a great thing for Portland. It would really benefit communities if these things were everywhere. It warms my heart when I hear about people like this doing things like this without receiving anything except the joy that comes from helping another person.
Johnson, Kirk. "Homeless Outreach in Volumes: Books by Bike for ‘Outside’ People in Oregon." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
