“I haven’t seen the beach in 15 years!” exclaimed one of our friends yesterday when we took a group from the Lighthouse Project to the beach. You see, when you are homeless your world closes in. It becomes the city streets where you live and the fight to survive another day. It becomes the buses that you ride, and the belching fumes that you breath in as you walk the hot sidewalks day in and day out. It becomes loneliness, and the struggle, and the cement that you pound with your aching feet.

That is why we like to take our friends to the beach every now and then. We want them to feel the warm Pacific, breath in clean, sunny air, and wiggle their feet into the soft sand. We want them to see something different, spend a day off of the city streets, and play like children again…even if it’s been 15 years.

Here are a few photos from this week’s trip to the beach:

 Ready to go! A special thanks to Michelle and Ken, our partners at Possibilities International for bringing a second vehicle and for helping out!

Don Carlos with our newest staff members…Edwin and Sara!

It was a great day!