Last Thursday evening after dark our door bell rang. When I answered the door there stood a lady that I didn’t know and my wife didn’t know.
Her story was not clear or consistent but included leaving the hospital (3+ miles away line of sight and further if you travel by roads) and walking into our neighborhood. He said her name was Lynn but that it wasn’t her real name. She further clarified that it also wasn’t her first name. (I didn’t see the need for here to clarify the statement but maybe I looked confused.)
She said she was in an abusive relationship and didn’t want anyone to know where she was or where she was going.
I inquired, Where are you going?. She didn’t have an answer to that question but said she wanted to keep moving. At that point Melodie and I suggested she sit for a while and maybe we can find her some help.
She said she was cold and hungry and didn’t know were to go. She asked for some food.
This is where my Melodie and I realized we were not prepared for our guest.

Our spur of the moment homeless guest kit ended up including these things:
1. One blanket for her to wrap around her for warmth.
2. One sleeve of Ritz crackers.
3. One hot cup of tea with milk, no sugar (her choice on the sugar).
4. One phone book where we could find organizations prepared to help.

In the end we think things turned out ok. She wasn’t willing to work with the New Directions place for women in abusive relationships. They were asking her two many questions and she didn’t trust them. But she was willing to talk to the police. We got a sheriff to come out and meet her so that she could go warm up at the police station and hopefully get connected with the local shelter or a similar organization.

What do you have in your Homeless Visitor Emergency Kit? I think Melodie and I will update our kit.