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Imagine what it would be like to not have a home, never knowing when you’d be able to eat or be able to get warm. What would it be like to be constantly judged, ignored, or treated as if you didn’t matter? This is often what it is like for those who are homeless.

The issue of homelessness can feel overwhelming, like there is no solution. But every single person has the power to change someone’s life. That’s why it’s important to remember that we are all human. We all have flaws and face hardships.

Everyone has times in their lives when they need a hand up. It’s no different for those living outside. There are lots of mixed opinions about this topic, and when you don’t know someone’s story it can be easy to be judgmental. It can be easy to make excuses to not help or it can feel too big of a problem to even know how to help.

Before I started to learn about homelessness, there were times when I started believing stereotypes. I thought that all homeless people were addicts or mentally unstable and that it was their own fault for being homeless. But now, hearing their stories and having conversations that aren’t always easy, I know that it doesn’t matter why a person is homeless. It is not for me to assume why they are homeless. It is not for me to judge.

Since starting my annual sock drive, I have had dozens of conversations with people about the problem of homelessness. Something that I hear a lot is that people don’t want to help those that “are not going to help themselves,” or “they should just get a job” or “they will just waste what I give”. No matter how much people living outside want to get out of their situation it can be extremely hard to do so. We don’t have to solve the entire problem of homelessness. We can take small steps that can have big impact for individual people.

No matter what your views are on those living outside, genuine human compassion is something of which the world can never have enough. Three years ago, I visited a homeless resource center in Seattle, Just Say Hello. I was so inspired that I knew I needed to contribute, and from there I started Just Say Socks. With the help of the La Conner community I’ve donated over 6,000 pairs of new socks to Just Say Hello. I’ve personally placed a pair of socks donated by someone in our community in someone else’s hands that was homeless, tired, and cold. We exchanged a greeting, a pair of socks and a smile.

Chloe Cunningham is in 9th grade at La Conner High School. She is accepting new socks for the resource center Just Say Hello until January 1 at Tillinghast Postal, Key Bank, Washington Federal, the Library, the Kiwanis/Library Thrift Shop, and Soroptimist Vintage La Conner.