From my view, of the land, it appears that no one seems to care much about anything going on. If it should or shouldn’t be happening at all is a non issue as long as it doesn’t impact them. Maybe you see it also. Why do you think that is? I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. You may disagree completely with my view. Yes, I expect that to be the case. Some of you will disagree for very legitimate and respectable reasons. Some not so much. It is funny how in talking to my daughters about a trip we made or an event we attended, when they were young, the view from each seemed to be quite different. In many cases very different. What happened, who was there, the time of day or the time of year etc. So the question is how can we see all things the same way. You know we can’t. But back to the subject; why is everything so troubling in the world even though for us Americans we are recovering very well from a very serious health issue. There is still much to be sad about and even plenty to worry about. There were hundreds of thousands of friends and family that died through the pandemic. Millions if you count all those around the world. But once those folks passed, in my eyes, they walked into an eternity with no pain, no worry no looking back. We can be happy for them.

You cannot view this world from afar and not be very fearful of what is happening, The promise is an eternal life of everlasting peace. It is a great feeling to know when you take your last breath here on this earth you will not see or hear the crying or the grief of those who loved you and were left behind. I am personally at peace with those that have died. They are in a better place and the grief is to survive ourselves. But, why the apathy? Has the value of living and gaining wealth and power become unimportant to the general public. I think we have reached a point where we have finally realized that working day and night for the sake of notoriety or wealth is not worth it? I sense that may be the case because normal life has been exposed. The general public has woke up to the reality of life on this earth. Let’s look at that briefly. Let’s also set religion and a life everlasting after death aside. Let’s look at life the way the average American would experience it. The average American family earns $74,000.00 for the sake of this conversation. That puts the medium wage at approximately $54,000.00 in 2022. The down side is that the cost of living has skyrocketed and especially with what is going on in the world today it will continue to raise. For years I have been trying to nail down the minimum cost for a family of four to live. Per Google the average cost for a family of four to live is $85,000.00 per year give or take. Wow, that is quite a difference. So where do you cut back to stay out of bankruptcy. Where ever that is; the damage to our life and lifestyle will be impacted dramatically. Folks have seen the corruption and greed in America. The rich get richer at our expense, thus the implied abuse. Does life and death enter into this scenario? Does the feeling of being used? Yes it does.

If you are reading this post and have read this far I hope you will have noticed that it is written to the audience, followers and interested parties of HPLA Charities. The acronym is for Habitaciones Para Latinos Association. It is an organization created to help low income home owners with free home repairs. Yes, our clients own their home or are paying a mortgage to own the property. Under today’s economic condition a way to cut cost is to minimize the use of utilities. Reduce the temperature to heat the house or increase it if air conditioning is installed. Secondly the type and cost for food is another area where folks try to conserve. For HPLA what we see is the dismissal of a leaky faucets, not replacing light bulbs, running toilets, no effort to keep up with the yard, the exterior or especially the interior of the home from decaying. We see rodent, insect infestations and cleaning in many ways ignored. One of the most tragic of home repair issues is stopped up drains and sewer systems. Old rusted and leaking lead pipes. So the answer is simple, either as homeowner you earn enough money to maintain all your home or rely on someone to pick up the missing pieces. For those that have no choice but to have someone pick up the missing pieces, HPLA is there.

In closing I want to give just one quick example of whom I speak. Mrs. R recently lost her husband. Each in their second marriage that lasted 35 years. Mrs. R is in her eighties. The home is old and in need of repair, but paid for and functional. They jointly worked hard to have what they had. But as things wear so do systems in the home and in her case the hot water heater started leaking due to years of use. It was causing water to build up in the basement although a floor drain was functional it was wasting water thus adding to her bill. The cost for a new hot water heater $800.00 and installation supplies another $50.00. Installation labor $250.00. HPLA Picked up the cost of the entire project. In doing the project it was noticed that getting into the basement required a rather precarious trek down the stairs as no hand rails were ever installed. To further improve the better welfare of Ms. R or her liability for anyone getting hurt going down the stairs handrails were added. You our contributors paid for all the work and HPLA provided all the labor without using any of your donations. In a parallel project to repair sagging cutters on a home HPLA did pay for discounted labor as volunteer support was not readily available and a handy man company was. The roof and foundation further damaging the foundation and allowing water to enter the basement. That project is still ongoing. Although the price was discounted it was still incurred. However no salaries or operating cost are paid for from donations for HPLA Staff. We look forward to a sponsor to help us with that as our current sponsor is reducing their donations by necessity. We need a paid staff to keep up with all that goes into helping folks in need. (One case manager and an administrative manager).

Can you spare a dime? Small amounts are the backbone of our non-profit. The large donations help with bigger and more extensive projects. But those of us that volunteer are the foundation. Apathy has minimized those willing to help. They have much to worry about for their own survival. It is the ones that have the least that give the most.

Thank you HPLA supporters for what ever you give or feel led to give. we are very grateful.

For secure processing of your contributions donations are processed by PayPal when given via www,hplacharities.org/donate

Bob Flores Chairman