What is compassion?

Compassion is the desire to alleviate someone else's suffering. Empathy is not required to feel compassion. You don't need to come from the same place or have suffered a similiar tragedy to want to help someone else.

Compassion is what we do at the Gastonia Street Ministry. We are here to alleviate the suffering of others through hope, food, clothing, and other basic necessities. Most of the people who visit the mission on a daily basis are drug addicts. Our volunteer churches come to offer a message of hope, encouragement, and a hot meal to those who may feel lost and hopeless. In this way, we build a sense of community in that the homeless can depend on us and each other as they live out their lives in a horrific struggle against addiction and the natural elements of the world such as cold and hunger.