...I am an activist like you and so I understand the lopsided needs vs the ones who could assist. I do like the idea of trying to find someplace for those who are in immediate crisis. This could include everything from pending loss of a home, a need for utility assistance to a person reliant on a machine to live, to food needs, to ptople with need for equipment (computers, a breathing machine or whatever) as well as for life-threatening medical needs.
As for "empathy fatigue" ... One of the most touching to me are the ones who are on the edge themselves and spread so thin, but still they often still give in spite of it ~ however ...there is only so much to go around and they get requests from all angles. Still so often it is these people more than most, who dig deep into their pockets and give. Oh I love them for that! They demonstrate what true love and charity is all about IMO.
DU was so instrumental to participate as a group in the herculean attempt in raising funds for my friend Andy Stephenson with his pancreas transplant, which came too late thanks to the terrible acts of those right wing attempts to stop it and who are now in deserved and deep financial trouble. However, while few know about Andy now, it seems to me since then, a sort of blanket of despair appears to have taken over most DU members who could contribute. A very widespread attempt to save this man's life (who did not have health insurance) resulted in a war that ended up in court when all we wanted to do was make the medical procedure possible for this amazing man. Whenever I see discussions about Andy, he is elevated and remembered so lovingly, but few discuss how to overcome the despair that we all felt ~ and seems to linger here on DU ~ after Andy died because the transplant came too late and because of the ugly things that transpired simply because we wanted to be good to someone.
This is my 2 cents and I could write a book about how to help those in need, as you know! All I can say is that I am aware that there are more resources than most people know about that need to be looked at and re-directed. The problem is that these resources are being terribly misspent and misdirected ~ and most of it pretends to help those in need, but in reality they are just are gimmicks to further benefit the upper classes.
Love Cat
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