Then, unbelievably, things got even worse.

Edward had always able to find work before, even if it didn’t always pay quite enough to cover rent AND food . . .

But then, there were NO jobs—no one was hiring!

It was a tough day when Edward walked through the doors at DRMM and said the words no one wants to say—I’m homeless, jobless, hungry . . . and I need help.

Your support gave Edward a much-needed meal and the assurance that he wouldn’t have to sleep on our city streets. “Being homeless is awful, very stressful,” he says. “I slept in vacant buildings and cars.”

DRMM staff explained that they also offer job and education counseling to help people find work and regain independence. Then we prayed together and watched as the fear and shame Edward felt for so long was replaced with hope that life really could be good again.

Edward says, “DRMM is the best organization. The whole program really works. If not for DRMM, I don’t know where I’d be.”

Your support, especially during this pandemic, is providing life-changing hope and lifesaving help for families and individuals just like Edward. Please make a gift now.

THANK YOU for Delivering Help and Hope to Neighbors in Need!

From the day COVID-19 was on the radar here at DRMM, caring friends and donors have rallied with prayer and generous support to ensure this ministry could respond swiftly and compassionately to a landscape that changed daily.

The past weeks have seen constant innovations to ensure the safety of staff, meet the needs people who are homeless, and continue outreach efforts to others in our community who are most vulnerable, including senior citizens and families with children.

Donor support made it possible for DRMM to feed more hungry people than ever during a time of crisis, providing 60% more meals and the delivery of thousands of food boxes. Your generosity also helped to immediately open and operate two new facilities, giving the homeless the ability to shelter in place. This action saved lives.

Support from donors is the reason DRMM continues to meet huge needs in the community, especially as the effects of lost jobs are pushing many of our neighbors to the brink of disaster.

This crisis is not over for the most vulnerable among us. In fact, that population is huge and growing. Please make a gift now to be the lifeline for so many desperate families and individuals!

You’ve probably heard or read important studies by Gallup, Airtasker and others that show remote employees are more productive than their in-office counterparts. I have.

And as an employer, it was appealing to me at first. Which employer doesn’t like having more output at lower cost?

I understand some are even thinking of closing their offices and having their employees work permanently from their various homes – a move that would save their organization’s a lot of money on rent/mortgage, maintenance, utilities and insurance, among others.

So, you quickly get the impression of a win-win. Employers are spending less and getting more while employees are saved the long commute hours and hassles, have more time to spend with family and friends, and could get extra pay from their cost-savings-happy employers.

That could work well for Accounting, Digital Marketing and Fundraising, and Software Creation and Sales firms, for instance. With the requisite skills, and functioning laptops packed with needed software and time clocking system, staff members could deliver great results from the convenience of their own homes (though they’d likely pay more for their utilities).

But what if the organization is Amazon? Or Henry Ford Hospitals? Or My Mom and Pop Restaurant? Or Jane and James Collision Shop? Or Car Wash For Hope? Amazon needs thousands of people working hands-on in warehousing and product fulfillment. Henry Ford needs many healthcare professionals diagnosing, administering relevant treatments, monitoring patients and talking face-to-face with them. Restaurants are not just about good food, snacks and drinks; they are also about the relaxation and social interactions that happen inside them. And the last time I checked, collision shops and car washes are the kind of small businesses in our communities that need hands-on staff.

Who knows? Maybe, one day, when people of my generation have become a matter of distant memory, all those services can completely be rendered remotely via a more sophisticated version of Zoom or Google Hangouts. But for now, most people involved in them have to show up at the applicable business premises and get things done and done right.

That’s how it is with direct service organizations like nonprofit Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM). You don’t provide homeless and jobless veterans needed hope and help from the comfort of your own home. Nor do you help a returning citizen gain stability and self-reliance with just phone or video conversations. You have to be there – where they are – and show them you care indeed.

Each day, we serve over 5000 meals at our various locations in metro Detroit. For obvious reasons, such nutritious meals have to be prepared and served by our chefs on site. There’s no other efficient and healthy way to do it. The distressed women and children at our shelters need many wrap around services that must be provided face-to-face, observing requisite physical distancing, of course. The same is true of the men and women in need of our detox and substance use disorder treatment services. As far as I know, nobody in any part of the globe administers prescription-only medication via phone or video conferencing. It is done in very close proximity to the patients.

Yes, the clamor for remote work is likely to increase post-pandemic, and it might become “the new normal” in a number of organizations. But there should be no ambivalence about the truism that while it is suitable in some work situations, and has obvious benefits, it is not yet appropriate and advisable in many organizations that rely heavily on physical presence and activities. Thus, when it comes to remote work, what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander, and it is important that employers properly explain this to their valued employees.

I have often written about the kindness of metro Detroiters because it continues to inspire me. That someone would act in support and encouragement of someone else especially outside their own family, neighborhood or circle of friends is refreshingly amazing. But it happens every day in my community.

Some think kindness is – or should be – the exclusive domain of the prominent and powerful. Not so. I have seen the poorest of the poor showing kindness to others. I have seen the jobless and homeless helping people of like circumstances in our shelters. I have also seen orphans looking out for fellow orphans, victims of domestic violence providing support to fellow victims, and recovering alcoholics and returning citizens giving peer support at our service delivery sites in metro Detroit.

Whenever men and women on public assistance or seniors in nursing homes send us checks to help the young and old in dire need, I think of kindness as a precious bird that cannot be caged.

Kindness is a virtue that anyone can choose to practice. It doesn’t matter what our circumstances are or whether others expect nothing good from us.

The way I see it, kindness has a way of making us feel truly human. For as social beings, we not only respond to the need to interact and associate with others but also empathize with them. And empathy leads us to compassion which in turn leads to improved and changed lives around us.

That’s what I often remind my various mentees. That’s also what I teach my four kids. And I am so pleased that for their birthdays this month, my first daughter Leila, and last son, Nadim, asked for no expensive presents or parties. Instead, they sent me a short video asking that I help them distribute special treats to seniors in the cities of Dearborn and Inkster.

I was enamored of the video and understandably proud that in it, they spoke of being inspired by our multifarious work at Detroit Rescue Mission (where, since April, we’ve distributed over 3000 large boxes of non-perishable food items to seniors in 7 cities in Western Wayne).

Who wouldn’t be proud? As a parent, you pray, work hard and hope your kids follow good examples and do the right thing.

Thank you Leila and Nadim for making me feel my labor of love in your lives has been very fruitful. You’ve been excelling in academics and sports. And now, you are demonstrating the power of empathy and compassion, and I couldn’t be happier.

Within two days of watching and sharing the aforementioned heart-warming video, Somerset Collections and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory came on board, providing as many as 1000 large individually wrapped cookies. Then the Dearborn Police and Inkster Police departments agreed to send officers to help us distribute the cookies and 60 bags of groceries to seniors in their senior housing communities.

And they did – with instructive and infectious poise.

The feedback I got? The seniors really loved the cookies and were so happy that the teens would think of them with such kindness.They also loved the fact that friendly police men and women brought treats to their doorsteps amid the lockdown.

As I thank all those who gladly supported this thoughtful effort, I keep remembering the joyful and exciting look on the young faces of Leila and Nadim as we went about the distribution on May 15. They looked more excited and joyful than previous birthdays with big presents.

Who knows? Maybe, their friends are already thinking of using the occasion of their birthdays to celebrate, encourage and support others, especially those who might need a little help. Won’t that be so nice?

Let the kindness continue with you.