February 25, 2025- We ran out of razors and toothpaste first. Toothbrushes and shampoo were the last things left. Even so, 50 bags of toiletries were assembled by seven people, this afternoon. It’ll be a small contribution towards lessening the want and uncertainty that faces the homeless/unhoused community, each day of the week, in a great many cities and towns, across the nation and the globe.
Prescott and vicinity have a fair share of people with no permanent residence. There are various meal programs in several churches, in both Prescott and Prescott Valley. Shelters are available in both towns. Food banks tend to those who are worst off among the populace.
The situation may get worse, before righting itself, as the national governmental focus is on giving support to an entrepreneurial class, believing that this will ensure investment in the well-being of the less fortunate. There could be some of that, but if the last such effort (2017) is any indication, most of the money sent back to the wealthiest citizens by Congress will be invested in the things that make those citizens’ lives ever more comfortable.
So, we gather items for gift bags, support thrift stores and staff serving lines at soup kitchens and other feeding stations, around the planet. We alternately discourage people from begging, while imposing means testing as a way to separate the “worthy” from the grifter. The ranks of the unemployed may rise, due to the shake-out now going on at the Federal level. Will entrepreneurship rise to the challenge, and set a private enterprise hiring boom in motion?
It will take far more than gift bags and food pantries to get through this current set of challenges. Stay tuned.
A Sagittarian Seeker 
I think you may be drinking the kool aid of the left wing narrative. You may be ignoring a lot of facts around the tax policies being discussed. The Trump tax cut in 2017 mostly more favorably balanced the corporate taxes to be more in line with those around the world to encourage companies to stay in the US and return capital to the US. This encouraged my company to invest more and hire more and to grow in the US. We became an attractive investment option for the German parent. The personal tax changes like limiting the deductions for state taxes and mortgage interest really hit the wealthy the hardest, and is one reason you see so many wealthy people leaving high tax states for Florida and Texas.
As Jesus said, we will always have poor among us. Most people of means give generously of their time, talent and treasure to assist those less fortunate, as you are doing with yours. Where do you think the churches and charities that run the soup kitchens and shelters get the money from. From my experience in Atlanta, 80% of the homeless are there because of drug or alcohol addiction or mental illness. I found most that had hit temporary hard times were lifted up out of the muck pretty quickly and given support to get on their feet, especially women, children and veterans. There was help to overcome addiction if they wanted it. The one area that was most difficult were the mentally ill. I always thought that there must be a better way for those people to be cared for, but did not see a good solution put forward.
One thing I am sure of is that the waste, fraud and abuse of government programs has to be stopped and then the issues most urgent can be funded properly. I would love it if anyone in your group of people who has taken a government handout, like the Covid checks, would in turn donate that money to the local charity of their choice . Then they would be putting their money where their mouth is. My guess is none will.
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I find that, under the budget bill passed by the house yesterday, my taxes will increase next year by +1.75 %. As for donating money to charity, I give to 5 local and national charities, plus two of my alma maters, on a monthly basis. That money comes out of my SSI check. I can’t speak for anyone else in “my group of people”, whoever that is supposed to be. (My circle of friends runs the gamut from 3-time Trump voters to bright blue Progressives).
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The food pantry at church has had a quadrupling of families served. It is looking pretty bleak. We put together hygiene bags from donations – the inclusion of feminine products was difficult because no one wanted to contribute those items… Instead several of us women went to the store and purchased a cart full. It is hard enough being homeless without the added issue of lack of feminine protection. As for the cutting of government assistance – it has been the stance of the GOP for a long time that private organizations and churches should pickup the slack. Sadly those groups are funded by the very people being cut from employment and facing higher food, utility and gas costs while their federal and state taxes surge ever higher…
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A family member wrote me, insisting that “it is the rich who support most charities.” Some do, but the uber wealthy do nothing without a tax write-off.
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Exactly! Most of the charity is at the grassroots level and ordinary folks “paying it forward”
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The contributions of people like us are often discounted by apologists for the Trump tax cuts, but they will be missed if tax increases cut into our “bottom lines”.
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