By Ariel Worthy
The Birmingham Times
Miles College’s Communications Club recently partnered with a nonprofit to help provide blessings for Birmingham’s homeless population.
The nonprofit, Birmingham-based Be A Blessing, brings awareness and community support to the homeless through monthly “Blessing Days” where it gives out supplies, including clothing and hygiene kits.
The Miles Club helped the group sort through hundreds of pieces of clothing at Green Springs Mini Storage organizing the material by style, age group and season.
“First and foremost, if we want other people to help us, we have to help others,” said Kamara Daughtry, president of the club. “That’s our main goal of doing this, to be servants . . . putting our time in and helping people who are less fortunate than us [and] be representatives in the community.
Erica Robbins, founder of Be a Blessing, said she was glad the students came to help.
“It’s very important that [people] are able to see that even if they don’t have all the things they want, the fact that they have a roof over their head, food, and a place to take a hot shower is a luxury,” Robbins said, who founded Be a Blessing three years ago.
“I moved downtown in 2014 and I could look out my window of my townhouse and see my neighbor under the bridge, and I started out making sure I took food to him,” she said. “I call the homeless my neighbors because they are my neighbors. They’re human just like everybody else. One Christmas I asked him what could I get him? He said toilet paper. I asked ‘what about a new coat or new shoes or a tent?’ he said, ‘toilet paper is a luxury on the street.’”
As a result Robbins began connecting with people living on the streets by giving them her contact information. Once she got a call at 3 a.m. because someone needed a blanket after theirs got stolen.
“I had a blanket, so why shouldn’t they get one?” she said.
From that, she began making hygiene kits for homeless people every month.
To help Be A Blessing, visit blessingbirmingham.wordpress.com.
