It’s tough to miss an Austin non-profit’s new method to get you to think about the homeless. Mobile Loaves & Fishes launched a billboard campaign along I-35 in South Austin Tuesday.
"I'm not a bad person just because I'm homeless," said Silver. “You are embarrassed when you first walk out there to fly a sign. It’s just embarrassing.”
Silver said he gets mixed messages out on the street. Some people have given him money, food even offered him a place to shower.
“There are some really great people here in Austin,” he recalled.
Then there are those that spit at him, shout obscenities or tell him to get a job.
“When you first become homeless it hits you pretty hard,” he said.
Silver is a former construction worker who’s had a difficult time finding work because of the time he spends taking care of his wife Maggie.
"We're hoping to raise money that will not only get Danny and Maggie off the billboard and into their own home (we need 1200 $10 texts to do that), but hopefully we will go way beyond that 1200 number," said Alan Graham of Mobile Loaves & Fishes.
Silver expects he'll raise a few eyebrows in the next few days. He just hopes being part of this billboard campaign will make drivers realize there is a story behind each homeless person and not all of them choose to live under bridges or in boxes or tents.
- By texting “Danny” to 20222, you can make an instant $10 donation that will provide Danny and others like him with a home through MLF’s Habitat on Wheels program.
- And, anytime you text “MLF” to 20222, you donate $5 to support MLF’s catering trucks that provide much-needed food and clothing for the homeless every night in six cities around the U.S.
You can also find more information on this campaign here.
