Homelessness in the United States, in the state of Washington, and in our communities has grown to epidemic proportions. The Covid-19 pandemic has only served to exacerbate the national crisis. Leg Up First is an action-oriented corporation that serves the homeless community by working towards the identification of, and provision of their basic needs. For many individuals and families struggling with homelessness, their ability to rebound and get back on their feet is a very real and achievable  possibility. Change may be one simple act away. Leg Up First seeks to identify the people living in homeless communities on a case by case basis to determine the immediate needs of individuals within  particular sub-communities. The focus then, is to meet those modest needs to elevate the community one level at a time. One by one, case by case, individuals will be recruited from within the community to become a work force providing services and assistance to their own community. The goal is the eradication of homelessness,  returning purpose and dignity to the lives of the displaced, and the reinsertion of our fellow citizens to the life they once knew. 

Several years ago, we bought a small piece of property in Washington. The yard was overgrown from years of neglect and the home on it was condemned. Finally being able to put a modular home on the site was a project that took several years. I was working as a science teacher on the East coast at the time. I spent a good part of my summer and winter breaks in Washington working on the land. While I was working, in the winter, I stayed at the same hotel each time. I became familiar with the staff and the crew that cleaned the rooms and ran the breakfast bar. In the winter of 2017, I stayed at the hotel through my entire winter break including Christmas day and New Year’s Day. I’m sure it was the first time I was ever in a hotel on Christmas day. The breakfast room was full of families that morning. I was completely unaware at the time, but I later learned that most of the folks that stay in hotels on Christmas day are between homes. This is especially true in regions with colder climates. I also noticed that some of the children I saw each day were eating Eggo waffles and other breakfast foods that were NOT offered on the breakfast bar. I realized the woman stocking the breakfast bar for hotel was buying the extra food for the children with her own money. Nancy is her name. She is a Tacoma local whose heart is most definitely bigger than her wallet. I sat in a full café that Christmas day. I listened to the children asking their mother why they hadn’t gotten any Christmas presents that day. The mother recounted things she had given her three children in the past. “Do you remember that pair of pants I got you and that water gun you used in the pool?”, she asked. “Oh yeah that was great”, the little boy replied. At this point I was still completely unaware that these families I was having breakfast with each day did not have a home to return to. The week passed and it was New Year’s Eve. We sat together eating and one of the guests looked around the café and commented “oh just the regulars.” I smiled as I enjoyed their acceptance. The light still had not dawned on me that these were homeless families. That reality hit me after New Year’s Day. On January 2nd, school started back up for the city of Tacoma. That morning I watched as a young girl, probably in seventh grade, finished her breakfast and threw on a pink backpack and boots and hustled to catch a city bus that would get her to school. She looked like every student that had ever walked through the doors of my classroom. I was blown away by that realization. Anyone you meet each day could possibly have home or food insecurities! You never know. When the week ended, it was time for me to return home. I spoke with Nancy for a while. I told her I figured out that she was spending her own money to help these families. I gave her $50 to help her continue her acts of kindness. She fought back tears thanking me claiming it was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. I thanked her and let her know it was her acts of kindness that are the nicest things anyone does.

The following year I was there again. This time I brought fifty wrapped gifts for children of all ages. I gave them to Nancy and paid her $50 to play Santa on Christmas day and pass out gifts to the children in the hotel. According to Nancy's reports the Christmas went better than I could have ever hoped. The next year we did the same thing except this time I had my special education students wrap the gifts for those kids less fortunate than them. Truly, many of those students could well have been the recipients of the gifts as well. It was a beautiful experience watching these students FEEL the gift of giving.

In the winter of 2020 I went back to the same hotel. Unfortunately, Nancy no longer worked there. I recognized one of the maids who gave me a smile. It was the mother of the little girl that went off to school that January morning. She was no longer a quest but an employee working for the hotel! I introduced myself to the manager and let her know I was the one bringing gifts for the past few years. With her permission I brought her 70 unwrapped gifts, five rolls of wrapping paper and Scotch tape. I couldn’t have my students wrap them that year because of Covid restrictions. The manager agreed that her staff would wrap them together. I picture in my mind the hotel staff laughing and smiling together while they wrapped the gifts for the kids. Christmas 2023 will be the seventh year we provide wrapped gifts to the families living in this hotel along with four other hotels. Families in-between homes, living in hotels, walk a fine line. These days, hotels play a crucial role acting as bridges between the homeless and a stable home life. Given opportunities and a helping hand, these families could find employment and work towards securing that stable living environment. The unfortunate alternative is that they end up living on the streets as so many thousands of our community members have. 

Thus the hopeful notion upon which Leg Up First was founded. At its outset, the focus was to bring joy to needy children on Christmas. As we have grown, we continue to seek new ways to provide resources and opportunities to these families in need. Our focus is to find avenues for these families and individuals to reach the next level of security. Sometimes people just need a little help. They simply need a Leg Up First!

-Anthony E Allen

• The over-arching goal of Leg Up First is to systematically  identify and uplift families and individuals from circumstantial poverty and home insecurity to that of productive, independent, accepted members of the greater community.  
• Identify who is living in our homeless communities and encampments.
• Determine the basic needs of individuals within the community beyond food insecurity.
• Distribute resources to other like-minded advocacy groups and organizations
• Provide opportunities for families and individuals to improve their situation through community stewardship.
• Work with other homeless advocacy groups to continue the upward spiral.

Leg Up First is an organization comprised of dedicated, ethical individuals from diverse backgrounds. We are committed to equity, racial, economic, and social justice.