Communicating for a Cause

At a Loss for Words

I've been sitting at my keyboard for a little while now, and my heart is just so heavy. It's rare that I find myself without something to say, but I can't seem to find the right words.

My friend, Mark Horvath from InvisiblePeople.tv is currently driving all over this fine country of ours (again), championing the stories of homeless people.

When we first met, I imagined the typical stereotypes of who these people were.

Drug addicts. Bums. Losers who prefer to panhandle instead of work.

When I took time to listen, my world was changed. One of the fastest growing groups of newly homeless people are previously middle class families hit hard by the recession. And kids.

Last night Mark met Sergi. It was his 18th birthday and first night homeless. Looking at his picture, I thought of my own almost-18-yr-old son.

And I want to scream

How can this happen? Where is the rest of his family? Doesn't ANYbody care? Or see how wrong this is?

I don't have the answers. But the frustration churning inside me about the sheer insanity of it all is more than I can bear.

The best way I can sum it up is in a tweet Mark posted this morning.

"We don't need random acts of kindness. We need deliberate acts of compassion"

If you want to learn more about Mark's travels (thanks to the generosity of Ford, Hanes, the Pepsi Refresh project & other great sponsors) click here. To learn more about InvisiblePeople.tv click here.

The [real] Power of Social Media

Yes, Twitter is a great tool for connecting people. But what if it didn't stop there? What if it could make a positive impact to change people's lives?

I had the privilege of getting to know Mark Horvath this year & he truly is a man who is using social media to make a difference. Rather than try to fit this into a tidy blog post, you'll get a better sense of his work by reading/watching one of his most recent efforts here to learn about a young mom and her 9-year-old son who found themselves homeless for the first time.

Within a few hours, Mark found someone willing to help buy food, groceries and a special Christmas present for her son. 

I can only imagine what could happen if his efforts were multiplied...