Project Kengikat

3 Years of LOVE & RESPECT

// February 2nd, 2010 // Uncategorized

It’s almost 2:00AM and I cant seem to sleep. Maybe this is because I have been returning emails and also sending out emails trying to nail down things for my Unplugging HIV outreach that takes place later this month on the 17th down on Skid Row. I am also busy making sure the outreach for this weekend which will be the official celebration of the creation of my organization and the Do Something Saturday~that empowers people outreach.

Wednesday will mark three years that I have been doing my outreach to homeless people that I started when I was homeless. It’s hard to believe that three years is now here and so much has taken place since the creation and so many people have come and gone. However many things remain the same and  that is my mission to restore dignity, respect and pride to people who are homeless as well as my mission to raise awareness for homeless issues that many homeless people face.

Do Something Saturday, now includes outreaches to low income families as well as children, but the main focus is still geared toward helping people who are homeless. I do this through passing out Do Something Kits (hygiene kits), gently used clothes and shoes, backpack, sleeping bags and even meals to people who are in need. I’ve even been able to pass out free cell phones to homeless people as well

June 29th, 2009 marked the end to 29 months of homelessness for me and was the end of never ending battles with so called “access centers” missions and shelters. Even though my homelessness came to end, my desire and passion for helping people has not ended and just like I said in my “Keep It Pushing” video I said I would work that much harder, raise my voice that much more and try to help even more people as best I could and thanks to some pretty awesome people in my life I have been able to do just that.

Since moving into my own apartment Do Something Saturday has grown and this year I was able to provideThanksgiving Day food boxes to low income families as well as provide a home cooked Thanksgiving Day dinner to people who are either low income or homeless. December was yet another month for outreaches to help those who are in need. The cell phone program is still going strong and my new Kick Start Meals has provided meal cards are well as Sunday Dinner for people who are homeless.

I’ve also been able to grow the support for my organization as well as forge great relations ships and friendships with many new people who have been instrumental in the success of my outreaches to help people. Do Something Kits have been supplied by my friend Forah from Australia as well as many people right here in the United States as well. The biggest success has come with my new friendships and amazing supporters of my efforts as well. People such as Eric, Willow, Ryan, Moina, Patrick, Krystal,  Alison, Adrian Aunt Emma  have not only been loyal supporters, but they too have proven to be awesome friends who truly do all they can to help, without judgment or expecting anything in return.

Do Something Saturday has also allowed me to meet people from all over the globe including people like Kimberley, Val, Courtney, Niambi, Robert, Dab, Bob, April, Audrey, Darlyna, Travis, Nadia, Everett and so many more people who have come to love and respect the outreach as well as what I am trying to do.

With so many new things, so many awesome outreaches, so many wonderful people that I have been able toreach out to, there has been two people who have been there with me almost since the very beginning. It’s funny, when I think about 3 years of doing this, there are only two people who have been there with me for most of this incredible journey.

I met Tina and Andy for the first time on April 5th 2007. Tina was someone who had heard about what I was doing for low income families for Easter. I wanted to be able to provide low income children with awesome, fun and educational Easter Baskets and she came through with 16 beautiful baskets. From that point on they both became amazing supporters of Do Something Saturday.

However Tina and Andy are so much more then supporters of Do Something Saturday, they are my two very trusted and best friends. In fact, there were times when they would call me up to check on me to make sure I was ok, they took me to get food to eat, gave me places to rest off the streets and provided what my life was very void of…….LOVE and FRIENDSHIP. Not the kind that people give lip service to, but the kind that is UNCONDITIONAL and very rare.

To be very honest is has been Tina and Andy who have encouraged me not to give up, always telling me to keep going, always helping me work through things, even in my darkest hour when I tried to kill myself Tina and Andy stood with me and refused to give up on me, even when I was ready to give up on myself. “We are right here Kengi and we are not going anywhere” is what I remember Tina telling me and for the first time in such a long time I felt like I had friends in my life again. There were plenty people around me, but Tina and Andy have been my friends, just like my sister and brother.

They were my shelter when I was cold, food when I was hungry, my strength when I was weak, they are to this day two people whom I am so blessed and incredibly honored to call my friends. When I need to talk they are there for me. When I need to cry and even vent, they are there for me, without fail.

Do you recall the song by TLC “what about your friends?”

Will they stand their ground?

or will they let you down again?

What about your friends?

Are they gonna be low down?

or will they turn their backs on you?

Well I know that no matter where I am or where I go from here, Tina and Andy will always be my friends. I willalways have two people in my life that I can turn to and do so without hesitation, without guilt or shame and I know that they will be there for me with open arms. Not since my parents have I’ve been able to say this about anyone in my life.

Wednesday will mark 3years of hard work, three years of doing all I can with the help of some truly awesome people to stand in the gap for those in need, three years of “connection without  bureaucracy”, the years of “Doing Something” for people against all odds, three years of asking people to care with their hearts, 3 years of meeting and helping people, three years of countless outreaches to homeless people, seniors, children and low income families, 3 years of quality meals, 3 years of love and respect to people who love and respect and absent.

This week I will work on securing the final donations that will allow me to once again stand in the gap for people who are in need. I will work hard to make sure that the bike ride that Eric, Willow and myself will take this weekend to provide Do Something Kits and water to homeless people along the beaches of Santa Monica and Venice is a complete success. I will also work on updating the look and feel to the website which many have said is in need of a complete makeover. I will work hard at finding someone to assist with the new logo design that will reflect three years of hard work that is filled with love and respect for HUMANITY.

I would like to take this time to say THANK YOU to all who have embraced what I have tried so hard to do, THANK YOU for your love support, donations, kind words, comments, emails and encouragement, THANK YOU for believing in what others called “stupid, foolish, backwards, worthless & dumb” THANK YOU for allowing me to share my story as well as the stories of others with you, THANK YOU for embracing the people I have tried to serve and restore dignity, respect and pride to.

Shortly after starting Do Something Saturday I said “I am going to be doing this for the rest of my life, this is my purpose, my reason for being here. I am called to do this.” Someone said that is was “silly” for me to say that because no one knows what their “purpose” for being here is and there was no way I could know that what I had just created would be my purpose. How wrong she was, just as wrong as all those who said this would never last and could never help anyone.

I have set some growth goals for Do Something Saturday as well as my new outreaches Unplugging HIV and Kengi’s Get Tested Party and I know that I will be able to achieve these goals as long as I remain focused and determined on the work I have created, as long as I keep God first and always believe in what I can do…….ALL THINGS

I love the work I have created and I love the people I serve, I love the friends I have made and I love what God has allowed me to live through and what he has allowed me to created. As I type this I am singing a song that simply says

“this joy that I have,

the world didnt give it to me

the world didnt give it

and the world cant take it away”

The coolest thing I am so happy to announce right is the addition of a cool little mascot for my organization.Dodger has been my awesome dog for about two weeks now and has been on 5 outreaches. He is awesome and great addition to my organization as well as my life. Many thanks to Helen, Phillip, Lee as well as Animal Advocate Alliance for such a cool dog.