A year ago, I blogged about 1,287, a Homelessness Awareness Event unique to our area. It was an amazing event to be a part of, because in the span of 1 month, a friend of Jon's called him with the idea, implemented, and executed the idea. One month after the idea was shared, they were able to sit down and discuss the event that took place as a result. Here's Cobblestone Project's recap of the day.

Now THAT is a man of action. I was blown away.

A year later, Mr. Mark Horvath is returning to revisit 1,287. You know WHY he's returning? Because of all the communities he visited last year, our community was among the top of those who accomplished the most following his visit.

I'd say that our community must have several like minded people of action.

It's a cool thing to witness. It's a cool thing to be a part of.



So on Saturday night, our family will once again be counted at 1,287 revisited. Last year, a homeless census was taken, and it was estimated that we had 1,287 homeless people in our area. Of those, a large portion are women, children, and veterans. Of those, a large portion are people who would be able to find a manufacturing job in another city - but we have very few blue collar opportunities in our region. Of those, many are good, solid, hard working people, who have just come across hard times and have no support network.

The face of homelessness is changing. The face of poverty is changing. It's awesome to be a part of the movement trying to solve the problem.

I'll come back after the event on Saturday night and share with you some of the things Mark talked about. Where possible, I'll link you up to the things that have been implemented since last year. I know for sure: Our Step and The Farm. But I'm certain there are more: Laundry Love, Shear Kindness, the DC... I can't wait to return to share more!