We moved to America 5 months ago and I love Longmont Colorado but you can't help but see a glaring inequality when traveling around the city. I've always thought of homelessness as one of the worst things you could experience and, according to a recent report, 564,708 people in the U.S. are homeless. I couldn't live in this place and not help these people in their darkest hour so I've trained with the local charity HOPE as a street outreach volunteer.

Meeting these people experiencing homelessness humbles me every shift. HOPE trys to help with the most basic needs of survival such as food and clothing but many of the people we serve work jobs, despite public opinion to the contrary, and so hygiene becomes an essential need in order for them to keep their employment.

We often run out of items such as razors and deodorant when doing outreach which is why I have decided to 'Hike, Bike and Walk for Hope' to raise money to buy essential hygiene items. If you follow me on Facebook you may already know that since arriving here I have been pushing myself weekly with tougher, longer, harder and higher hikes so I decided I wanted my hard work to mean something. I'm not a sporty person by nature so every step I take is a challenge. I also deal with invisible illnesses making it even tougher.

I plan to hike, bike and walk 100 miles over August 2017 pushing myself up mountains, through 30-40 degree heat, in high altitude and on tough terrain (and in bear country!). Our average hikes have been around 5 miles so far and biking only a few miles so 100 miles is going to be a challenge to meet. Whatever money you can spare will make a difference. It won't be lost in some giant charity machine, every penny will go towards items making a difference to someone really in need and may be the difference between them keeping or loosing a job.

I plan to take a photo of what your contribution bought so please include your name and if you would like it to be a specific item such as tampons or razors please let me know. Thank you.