I'm participating in the 2025 Winter Walk because I believe ending homelessness is within our reach. As a member of Team St. Francis House, I see what a community of people do together to improve and transform people's lives everyday--365 days a year--from a hot meal to a warm shower, a class to create art or a women's center to create healing relationships, to our 14-week Moving Ahead Program or our 200+ affordable housing units being built right now.

Transformative education and meaningful journeys together are what I've loved most throughout my career teaching in privileged schools, running urban farms connected to community health centers in New Haven, and making a life here in Boston, where the Walk for Hunger inspired me to go to divinity school and change course. But I can see that these transformative journeys are not only about service and answering a call to make a difference. The Winter Walk, like St. Francis House, can change you just like it has begun to do for me.

I ask you to join me as a Winter Walker or a generous donor to come closer to a community where homelessness and inequality are diminished. Your gifts today will help us reach a $10,000 match for St. Francis House, and every dollar will directly impact a person's day.

And here are three donor stories I want to share as I walk in honor of them (names changed):

• Bill learned about St. Francis House through his church and chose to support the people living on the streets as he walked to and from his financial office in downtown Boston. For over thirty years, he gave anonymously, consistently, and generously over $130,000. When I reached out to thank him for his past support, I realized he had passed away quietly in his nineties this week one year ago. I'd like to share with his sister Rose how much we raise for Team St. Francis House in honor of him this year.
• Claudia started volunteering in our clinic after a 20+ year nursing career at one of Boston's leading hospitals. She's moved away now and is caring for a loved one and trying to keep up with tons of grandchildren. She recently told me on the phone, "Don't worry about us. We're in. At this point, we want our lives can be about service, and we know what a difference St. Francis House makes." I'm walking for her and what she continues to do to make St. Francis House an essential philanthropic commit that brings her joy and purpose. Walking will do that for you, too.
• John learned about St. Francis House from his son, who volunteered while he was in college. (Kate on our team onboards, coordinates, and cares for over 500 active volunteers who help serve meals, sort clothes, and serve in other programs 365 days a year. That's a lot of work! But St. Francis House doesn't exist without volunteers. We have three full-time kitchen staff led by Seth and need about seventeen volunteers a day. I served lunch with some of the best last week--over 200 chicken paddy sandwiches graciously and smoothly handed to grateful guests in the line in about 15 minutes.) Volunteering is the way to see what matters most, and I'm impressed that John started supporting SFH because of how it changed his son's life and perspective. The Winter Walk is the only family-friendly opportunity because direct volunteers must be 18-years-old. So here's to volunteers, volunteer coordinators, family, and the spirit of St. Francis House inspiring you to give what you can, how you can, too. Bring your kids if you need a weekend adventure that may become a foundational life experience for learning and purpose.

Finally, I'm raising Winter Walk funds for our Moving Ahead Program, a 14-week cohort-based program that develops workforce readiness, life skills like accountability and confidence, and a vision forward with people whose journey has been much tougher than my own and whose stories inspire more than any extraordinary school where I worked, learned, and have supported with my philanthropy focused on financial aid for several decades myself. MAP is the most transformative education for the investment I've ever seen. Today is a MAP graduation, one of several throughout the year, and I keep the graduation ceremony with all of the participants' names tacked by my computer screen to remind me whose lives and stories we're changing every day. And the thing about MAP, is that the students are in control--what they bring and what they commit to do is what makes it transformational.

St. Francis House is more than a day shelter or a place to find a warm meal.

We follow a Housing First principle accompanied by wraparound human services--from healthcare to recovery groups to job search support.

And we are doubling our affordable housing units to over 200 places people can not only find shelter but also make a sustainable home.

I want you to be a part of all this good work! Let's "Walk the Walk" together!

Will you join me in the walk by registering or making a gift today toward my goal of $1,000?

Thank you,

James

Please learn more about the Winter Walk at winterwalk.org and consider donating to my efforts.  Thanks!