• Towels, sheets, pillows and blankets/comforters
• Toiletries for both men and women - items such as toothpaste and toothbrushes, soap, razors, shaving cream, deodorant, and shampoo

• All kitchen supplies - Pots & pans, silverware and flatware, coffee pots, microwaves, tea pots, tea towels, oven gloves
• Cleaning materials like brooms, dustpans, detergent, bathroom & kitchen cleaners, bleach
• Larger items such as furniture in good condition - beds, dressers, kitchen tables and chairs, lamps, sofas, coffee tables, appliances in good working order
• Children's toys, clothes, books
• "Luxury" items like TVs or stereos, picture frames and so forth - things that make a house a home.

To walk a mile in another's shoes read the following:

CCHO is an agency of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany that provides housing and support services to the homeless, poor and vulnerable men, women and children of our community. CCHO manages a continuum of housing that includes two emergency shelters, four Single Room Occupancy (SROs) programs and twenty-two scattered site homeless families’ apartments. CCHO is the largest provider of housing and support services for the homeless in the Capital Region and we serve approximately 1,200 individuals annually.

One of the most difficult challenges the agency faces on a daily basis is how to address the household needs beyond the physical housing. When a family or individual becomes homeless, they lose much more than housing. In nearly 100% of the homeless cases we serve, people have lost the entire contents of their homes and often only have the “clothes on their backs”. The crisis of homelessness may be triggered by a variety of causes (illness/disabilities, loss of income, family crisis, domestic violence, etc.) but each crisis is coupled with poverty. It is poverty that is at the heart of homelessness and it is poverty that also makes establishing a new home extremely complicated and difficult for both our clients and the agency.

It is very difficult to describe the poverty experienced by the homeless, but we would like to try with this simple little exercise. Please take a moment and visualize your own home using your “mind’s eye”. Let’s take a walk-through and “see” what really makes a house or apartment a home. We’ll start in the kitchen. Do you see the salt and peppershakers, paper towel holder and trivets? Are there cookbooks and cookie jars, scented candles or maybe a spice rack? Now let’s look in your dish cupboards, do you see matching plates and bowls, your favorite coffee mug and serving platters? Do you have a drawer with potholders, bottle openers, serving spoons and spatulas? Are there things under the sink you’ve had forever, but use only rarely?

Let’s move to the living room, do you have an ottoman or perhaps a fancy recliner to put your feet upon? Maybe you have a reading lamp and a small end or coffee table? Is that a stereo, computer or big screen TV in the corner? Do you have nice pictures of the family or art hanging on your walls adding to the cozy comfort? What’s that over there that “Fluffy’s” sleeping on? Is that the afghan grandma made or is that the souvenir pillow from Lake George?

Now let’s move on to the bedroom. Does the bed have lots of pillows and a warm comforter for those cold nights with maybe matching curtains on the windows? Is there a fan or air conditioner for those hot summer nights that you just know without which sleep would be impossible? Do you have a mirror over your dresser or vanity to help you get ready for the day? Is there a box on that dresser for your jewelry or pocket change, right next to the hairbrush, cologne and hand-cream? How about the kids’ bedroom(s), do they have toys and stuffed animals and books of all types? Do they have are all their “treasures” on display on the bookshelf or in a cabinet? Is there a hamster cage, aquarium or dollhouse?

Did we look in the closet? Are all your off-season clothes hanging there? Is there an ironing board next to the vacuum next to the bowling ball next to the snow-shovel that is wedged between the stroller and the hidden “birthday-Christmas-anniversary” presents?

Have we covered it all? Did you peek in the basement/garage/attic/den/mud-room/bathroom? Can you see your home now in your mind? Good, let’s do Part II of this little exercise.

Now visualize in your mind the same home, but this time try to visualize that same space, but completely empty………………….You just had a glimpse of the reality of homelessness.

It is our experience at CCHO that when a household loses their “home”, they also lose all the contents that make it a home. Now that you’ve done this simple exercise you may be better prepared to understand what was lost and what is needed to begin anew. There are some obvious things needed in any housing such as furniture, beds, lamps and linens, but a “home”, particularly one with children, needs much more. Some articles that many of us take for granted are things like curtains, dishes, flatware, cooking utensils, towels, pots and pans. Often things like brooms and dustpans, mops and buckets, light bulbs, kitchen trashcans and cleaning products are usually overlooked but very much essential articles for homemaking.

Then there are the “non-essential items”, those things that although not considered “essential” by some (particularly Public Assistance), add much to the comfort and functionality of a “home”. Things like clocks (particularly alarm clocks) and wall hangings, scatter rugs and clothes hangers, toasters, can openers, radios, telephones or even TVs and microwaves are all items that we expect in our homes, but for someone in a housing crisis, these are near the bottom of their list of needs .

And then there are the children. Children need “special” things that can sometimes be too expensive for “mom’s” shopping list when discretionary money is virtually non-existent. Kid’s need things like backpacks and school supplies, baseballs, dolls and board games. Kid’s need sandboxes and swings and bicycles. Occasionally they need things like appropriate warm clothing in winter like snow-pants or coats or boots and gloves. It is not unusual to have a poor child sent home from school because they are not appropriately attired for the conditions. The adolescents need special things too. They need “things” to feel accepted by their peers at this awkward stage, “things” that some may believe are trivial or a waste, but to kids this age, they are very important. Maybe it’s basketball or maybe it’s movie tickets. Maybe it’s a small stereo or maybe it’s a Yankee’s sweatshirt. Maybe it’s a fancy hair product or maybe it’s a trip to summer camp. But whatever these “things” are, they are out of reach for the children of the poor.