The mission of $0$ is to help people. I said before that $0$ is user-focused, and what that means is that we look at the little picture. There are a lot of organizations that have big missions, that aim to help with disasters or solve community problems. That’s not what helping people means to us. We focus on individuals. On doing what we can for one person at a time, and helping others do the same because that’s how you change the world.
Let me give you an example. Beren was homeless, jobless and a former addict. He had managed to get off heroin, but was still on the streets, jacking cars and breaking into houses to keep himself fed and alive. He didn’t want to be doing these things, but he didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t get help anywhere else, not without strings attached.
He wandered up and down the Pacific coast until he made a big score, then bought a second-hand RV and found himself in Salt Lake City when the money ran out. He planned to hook up with a friend from back east, but in the meantime he was sleeping on top of a Wendy’s that was across from a Taco Bell, having sold the RV for food. He told me that he remembers the light from the Taco Bell sign keeping him awake because he was so hungry and that the temptation to do “bad things” was very strong. He didn’t have food, he didn’t have money, and here’s this literal neon sign shining on him all night with the promise of things he could have if he just went back to his bad old ways.
About that time, he got back in touch with Alan, who he knew from his school days in South Carolina. Alan, hearing of Beren’s situation, asked Beren one night if he wanted something to eat. Beren was wary. Nothing in his life had come without some kind of condition. But Alan got the address, put in an order for him online, and Beren was able to walk into that Taco Bell and pick up food. It was, for Beren, a life-changing, and possibly life-saving, moment. Beren said, “It made me feel like a person again”. Someone was willing to do something good for him without prompting and without expecting anything in return.
It was a moment in Beren’s life that he will never forget. He was able to hold off both his hunger and his demons, and more importantly, restore a bit of hope and humanity to his life. And all it took was a couple of tacos from someone he hadn’t seen in decades.
Moments like these are what $0$ is about. Small things to some, but huge to others. Being able to help individuals feel like people again, help them fight off their demons and restore hope in their lives, that is what we strive to do, and to enable others to do.
Beren is no longer homeless and has a job and a car. He is still sober. It took more than just a taco to help him support himself, but it started with a taco and feeling like a person again.
What will your story be?
