A couple of weeks ago my husband and I met with the Director of the Bay Area Rescue Mission who gave us a tour of their facilities and sat down with us to talk about their services and ministry to the homeless of the San Francisco area. It's an amazing work, with a tremendous success rate - 85% of all those who go through their recovery program 5 years later are still working supporting themselves and their families, have their own place to live and are fully recovered from addiction. But like most shelters they need more beds, even though they feed and shelter hundreds every night.

but their homes and even their families. They are home-less and hope-less, living on the street, begging for money and food. This should not be in America, but it is. And homelessness exists around the world. For instance...

Ottowa Canada reports that shelters across their city are seeing a growing number of homeless women, a crisis that's leaving their resources stretched.

In the UK a London-based charity has today released a report revealing homeless hostels in the capital are overlooking the needs of women who have been abused or exposed to violence.

A chapter of the Red Hat Society is reaching out to homeless women in their town.

And churches, organizations and individuals in every state of America are trying to meet the needs of homelessness, but the need is huge. Dollars and volunteers are needed. And your help is needed in your city.

Remember the story of the Good Samaritan...he had compassion on the man on the roadside and took him to town and paid for him to be taken care of. We can give dollars like he did, or time and effort like the ones he brought the man to. Either way, won't you call the local shelters in your area and volunteer. Not only will it make a difference to those in the shelters, but for those already carrying the load to help.