Worthy

One night while I was doing street outreach with some other volunteers, we came across a woman who had harsh words about herself tattooed on her neck and arms.

My mind couldn’t imagine all that this woman could have possibly been through in life.

Then there was another woman who I had spoken to recently who was so full of anger and hurt. My heart broke for the way that she saw herself.

You meet so many women while doing street and door outreach who truly believe that they are not beautiful. They don’t believe they are worthy. You see it in their eyes. You hear it in their words.

Not too long ago, I received a donation of makeup bags that a young lady had collected over the past few months. Each makeup bag was a different color and had a different design on it. They also donated many small skin care samples.

One night I decided to take those samples out with me on street outreach. When we reached the Market, there was a group of women laying on an air vent to keep warm. I pulled out the makeup bags and samples and immediately they lit up. They were so excited to pick out a bag that they wanted, and you could see they were having fun looking through the samples as well.

The same thing happened with other women that I ran into that night.

These women are not garbage. They are not a mistake or failure. These women are worthy. These women are enough. They are beautiful and we long for them to see and believe that.

~Marissa – Youth Program Assistant