The daily Astorian., January 19, 2018, WEEKEND EDITION, Page 1C, Image 17

1C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2018
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Illustrations by Noel Thomas
FACING HOMELESSNESS
By NOEL THOMAS
For The Daily Astorian
I
n the basement of Astoria’s First United Methodist Church are some 30 foam mattresses lined up on the floor, empty until evening, when some 30 peo-
ple will return to a hot meal, and to reclaim their bed for a night of warm, hassle-free sleep. Then they’re out in the early morning to face another
day on the streets. These are our fellow humans, whose problems are as real as our own, yet they remain mostly invisible to us, gray shadows in the
corners of our vision. They are hard to look at, so we close our minds and move on, trying hard not to have this reality affect our day, but it does.
A mattress and bedding at the Astoria Warming Center, housed in
the First United Methodist Church.