RICHMOND, Va. -- There are numerous efforts across the Richmond area to see to the needs of the city's homeless population.
Among those leading the charge is a group called "The Blessing Warriors." According to founder and CEO Ronda Sneed, they've been formally helping Richmond's homeless community for about five or six years.
When Sneed moved to Richmond from New York she said she was shocked to see so many homeless people outside in the cold with apparently nowhere to go.
"I didn't believe this was happening here and I started serving out of a crock pot and people started saying get people to help you, I didn't know two people in Richmond, now we have over 7,000 Facebook members and all we have to do is ask the community and they supply everything. God's got this," Sneed said.
CBS 6 caught up with Sneed and her Blessing Warriors volunteers on a cold November night a few days before Thanksgiving.
They were set up outside St. Peters Church on Grace Street in downtown Richmond with turkey and other hot, Thanksgiving staples and sides lined up on a table ready to serve.
Ahead of their 7 p.m. start time, a line of homeless Richmonders had begun to form. There were a few dozen people there, not quite as many as they're used to seeing.
"The line is short because the shelter is open tonight and they will lose their place, they're not allowed back in. So we have the people that won't be in the shelter or didn't get a space in the shelter here and then we will go from here to all of the little cubbyholes where we know people are and then we will go to the hotels and serve and visit a few campsites as well," said Blessing Warriors Chief Operating Officer, Tracy Byrd-Eagles.
The women told CBS 6 that sometimes they're working into the early hours of the morning and it's not just food they're providing.
"At this time of year, suicide is at a high rate. They call us at 4:00 in the morning just to have someone to talk to. They don't have family, if they have family, they're separate from their families. We provide clothing we provide basically anything they need. We've lately helped people with bus tickets to other churches that's paid for them to go back to other states. So we got to get people through the season. And then January, that's when our busy time comes because everybody that serves the homeless during the holidays, they hibernate," Sneed said.
Having once been homeless herself, Sneed said the mission of her organization is personal.
"When I got out of the military, my husband, myself, and my four-year-old were homeless and it was an eye opener. God's been so good to me, brought me out of homelessness, with the support of strangers in the streets of New York City. So I feel God's blessed me and I need to let him use me to bless others," Sneed said.
After talking with the women for about thirty minutes and learning more about them and their work with Blessing Warriors, CBS 6's Leland Pinder surprised them with a monetary donation to Blessing Warriors as part of CBS 6's Month of Giving.
"It's our Month of Giving at CBS 6 so for everything that you do, I'm sure it's not easy or cheap and requires a lot from a lot of people, so from all of us at CBS 6, we want to give you a little monetary gift that we hope will help you purchase food supplies or purchase whatever you need to purchase to help you help these people who might otherwise not have somewhere else to go. We hope that'll help in some way and we're happy to do it," Pinder said.
The women expressed their thanks, accepted the gift, and shared a hug with Pinder.
"It takes a community, it takes people with willing, giving hearts, it's what makes our world a better place. Thank you. Any monetary gift is invaluable to us because our insurance rates have escalated, our business car insurance and we can't do it without that monetary donation. We can't get out there. I mean, we've worn out our vehicles numerous times, and having financial support is crucial, it's crucial," Byrd-Eagles said.
To learn more about the Blessing Warriors, click here.
The CBS 6 Month of Giving made possible by Virginia Credit Union is underway. Watch for a new surprise every day in December on CBS 6 News at 6 a.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. Have an idea about who we should surprise next, click here to email our team.
