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“Every other Tuesday evening, Joe holds court in the chapel”, says Caroline Hendrickson of The Rescue Mission in Syracuse. People just can’t wait to see Joe. They know him. They trust him. They know he’ll help if he can.”
For many years Joe Stanley of The Stanley Law Offices has been visiting and advising those who call The Rescue Mission “home”.
Why? Because if there’s even one person Joe can help, his time is well spent.
“These people need hope. They need to know people care. They need to know they matter” says Joe. “If me or my team back at the office can help, you bet we’re gonna do everything we can for that person. We have a gentleman right now that our team’s working to help. The state says ‘he doesn’t exist’ and he can’t get identification even though he’s got a birth certificate and he knows his social security number. How ludicrous!” says Joe.
“This guy is so incredibly bright, and he’s run into some speedbumps in his life that got him off track. It could happen to any one of us. It’s so frustrating despite our efforts, the phone calls, the emails,the conversations, the proof, that |
we can’t get this poor man an i.d. so he can file his taxes!” says Cristy, a paralegal and part of the Team at Stanley Law. “Countless hours have been spent counseling this man and working on his behalf. He broke down into tears in my office and I joined him. What if it was me who lost everything and then was trying to do the right thing and kept getting knocked down. I empathize as best I can. It could be happening to me or someone else I know… a neighbor, an old friend… so frustrating and so unfair” says Cristy.
“We’ll keep fighting and doing everything we can to get this man what he rightfully deserves… his own identity!” says Joe Stanley. “There are countless stories I’ve learned and I’ve worked to help make right or make some measure of difference over the years. We have to put a face on the homeless and the hungry. It’s not just happening to ‘that guy or that bum’. Many of these people had productive lives, families, homes. A loss of a job, a bad divorce, the loss of a spouse, there are so many reasons why this happens to someone. No one is immune! You just can’t sit back and think ‘it’ll never happen to me’.
I’m calling on people, we are calling on people to step up. Life’s too fragile, too important not to care. We’re stronger together than we are apart. And we need your help.”
America has always defined itself most admirably when there’s a crisis; hurricane, a terrorist attack, a school bombing. Americans reach out a helping hand to a neighbor without hesitation. There is a crisis happening every minute of everyday. People are hungry, they’re cold, they have nowhere to lay there head at night in hopes of a good night sleep. The Rescue Mission does what it can. It’s not enough. Winter is coming. There’s more work to do. We are on a mission.
Our first goal? $150,000 which provides 73,890 meals for the needy right here in our own backyard.
Join in our quest to make today matter in the lives of so many.
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