I remember at some point in my life hearing a story that stuck with me. It was the story of a man who was taking a walk on the beach and noticed that for some reason (full moon, high tide etc.) there were hundreds of starfish that had been washed up on the shore. As he carefully continued his stroll avoiding stepping on the stranded aquatic life, he saw another man. This man was grabbing star fish after starfish and throwing them back into the ocean.
As the first guy approached him, he was critical and nearly mocked the second man saying, “There are hundreds of starfish and this is a huge beach, what difference could you possibly be making?” In reply, the man picked up another starfish, tossed it into the ocean, and calmly said “I made a difference for that one!” and continued his rescue efforts.
I feel like this is a good picture of the work we are doing at the Grants Pass Gospel Rescue Mission. Our town is filled with homeless people, aka the beach is full of starfish.
With about 40 residents there are definitely more homeless outside of the Mission than inside for a variety of different reasons. Many people are critical of this and echo the man saying, “What difference could you possibly be making?” In response, I smile and tell them about one of the many residents who are making the choices and steps that they need to leave homelessness behind them and say, “I made a difference to that one!”
The path to solving the homelessness problem must be done one person at a time. There is not a blanket program that will fix the homelessness problem. We are making a difference and changing one life at a time here at the Grants Pass Gospel Rescue Mission, and I am privileged to be a part of that.
By: Bobby Galli, Men’s Coordinator