So difficult it should be funny

I have a friend who is amazing. She has come on tough times, and therefore needs some help at this time in her life. Namely, finding a place to live. For free. Yes, that is huge, but in the same breath, it isn't. She doesn't need a place indefinitely, she needs it for two months. I think over my short life and there have been plenty of times when Chris or I, or both of us needed a place for free for a while. There was the time that Caitlin let us live in her 900 sq. foot house that already had two adults and a dog and we came in with two more dogs and two more adults and stayed for a full 3.5 months. Not to mention I was working out of their house, so I was ALWAYS THERE! There was the other time I lived with Caitlin for two more months (so...now a total of 5.5 months of rent free living) and I was pregnant and she accompanied me to many doctor visits and she cooked for me. No, I was not the easiest roommate. Chris stayed with my parents during that time....rent free again.

Growing up we had one family, one family member, and a high school friend of mine that stayed with us rent free from anywhere from 4 days to a couple years. I don't know if my parents ever thought that it was hard, and if they did, they never let on.

So far, for this one friend and her two month old daughter I have contacted:
YWCA
2 churches
1 shelter
United Way
TANF
211
Many personal friends
My Facebook account
Section 8 housing
Temporary housing
Transitional housing
Craigslist ads
2 blogs that focus on helping people
and I'm sure there are some random non profits that I am forgetting at this point

AND NOBODY HAS ONE FREAKING ROOM.

It makes me think of all the empty rooms I know. Many people have guest rooms, and I am left wondering what they are used for if not to just be a decorated room in a house. Kind of like a trophy so people can walk around saying, "I have a three bedroom" or "I have a 5 bedroom." But what use is a bedroom if it's not used?

I realize that people do what they can, and hearing about some girl that needs help is a little different than lending out a room in your home to your best friend, but there has to be one empty room for this poor new mom. In all of San Diego or Los Angeles, I just can't believe that every room is taken. Each time I check my email I am hoping beyond hope that there is a reply, that somebody will say, "Hey, I have this room that she could stay in." It is quite silly how one person's empty guest room means a life for another.

I think it is easy to hear about some story and not have it really impact you. This one, for me though, is taking its toll on my heart. My friend isn't some girl that I am reading about on a blog. It is a person sitting on the other end of the phone crying because she is exhausted, scared, lonely, and homeless. And this person is somebody who I care about. Somebody who's daughter I was kissing not hours before.

This whole experience first started making sick with guilt over all that I have in this world, and then I had to stop because I was giving myself headaches and that wasn't helping anybody. So now, I just hope that after this mess is sorted out and my friend has a safe room for her and her baby that she is comfortable in that I can walk away remembering how lucky I am. And maybe, when I walk by our guest room when it is unoccupied I can remember what a gift it is and be reminded to pass that on.