The homeless are one of, if not the most marginalized members of any society. Unlike those who are seriously ill or have lifestyles we don’t share, the homeless remind us that, but for the grace of God, it could well be us who have nowhere to sleep and who do not know where our next meal is coming from.
This knowledge scares most of us so much that, if we can not help at that particular time, we pretend not to see them at all. And hope they don’t approach us for a handout that we can’t give.
Because there is nothing to do in most – not all, just most – homeless shelters except stare at their phone, watch TV, or participate in a few activities the staff and volunteers can provide, even those fortunate enough to live in a homeless shelter suffer from the depression and low self-esteem that accompany homelessness.
As a result of their depression and low self-esteem, the homeless are often alone … even in a crowd.
It is, therefore, quite hard – if not impossible – for them to gather their inner resources enough to rebuild their lives.
Building Better’s mission is to help the homeless and other marginalized individuals battle depression and raise their self-esteem by teaching them leathercraft and basic life skills while providing a multivendor ecommerce market where they can sell their hand crafted leather goods.
All monies raised from the sale of an item go directly into the maker’s private bank account. Thereby, giving them a way to earn a bit of spending money without having to pay the fees charged by most online e-commerce shop providers.
