January 2024 Blog Topic: What is a big goal or dream you are chasing?
By Wil Becker with Turning Leaf Solutions
In 2016, I met a man who opened my eyes to the plight of homeless people. I have known and seen that we have homeless people in America. I have known most of my life. They are a staple in big cities and small towns. We can debate the situation and why we have a problem. While seeking a solution and a way to help people fall into that way of life; we need to do something on the other side to help people out of homelessness.
I have spent many hours and days thinking about this problem and looking at the different solutions that are currently in America. While some homeless shelters and programs assist with short-term solutions, and some address long-term issues, somehow people still struggle while on state programs.
I believe that a better solution can be created and built with the right partners and programs. One of the main reasons I am in business is to create partnerships and associations to make this a reality. Have you read “Up from Slavery” by Booker T. Washington? Booker started with a plot of land and built Tuskegee University with the students at the school.
This is significant because the students and teachers learned to make bricks, do plumbing, and loads of other skills necessary to complete the tasks. My idea is a spin-off of this concept. A place where those who are capable can live, learn new skills, learn personal finance, learn people skills, learn a trade or a job that they can take from this new place and move into the market.
This “project”, as I am currently calling it, would be to create a community that works together to create a culture change to help homeless men and women rise up from the despair of homelessness. Then once the model is proven, we can work to help this idea expand across the US, Canada, and maybe even the world!
