National blog mentions Drop-In Center
Commentator praises shelter director, encourages readers to donate
A nationally known liberal commentator asked his readers Tuesday to send money to Lawrence Open Shelter.
Eric Alterman, who writes the “Altercation” blog for MSNBC.com, once worked with shelter director Loring Henderson in Washington, D.C. In his Tuesday blog, Alterman praised Henderson’s efforts and gave readers the shelter’s address — 944 Ky. — to send donations.
Henderson “makes in a year what Bruce (Springsteen) makes playing the first three chords of his opening song on opening night,” Alterman wrote. “That’s heroism, in this man’s opinion, and you should all recognize it by sending a few bucks, as well as blankets and coats and stuff, which would make a world of difference.”
Henderson, director of the newly merged Community Drop-In Center and Lawrence Open Shelter, said Tuesday he had already received a $250 check from Alterman.
“It was very nice, and certainly a great endorsement, and a help to ask his friends to make donations to the open shelter, to the drop-in center,” Henderson said.
“In this kind of business it’s a struggle all the time; that’s why he did it,” he said. “He knows, because I’m forever sending letters to my friends, (asking) if they would like to donate.”
Alterman is also a columnist for The Nation and has a new book, “When Presidents Lie.” Henderson said the two worked together briefly at a Washington, D.C., think tank, “Business Executives for National Security.”
Alterman did not name Henderson in the column, instead describing him as a “close friend” who runs the Lawrence Open Shelter.
Loring Henderson, director of the Community Drop-In Center, has benefited from a recent donation and plug by liberal commentator Eric Alterman.
“I knew Eric Alterman when he was a kid, green behind the ears,” Henderson said with a laugh.
Henderson said he hoped the mention in Alterman’s blog raised some national awareness that homelessness is a problem outside major cities.
“It reminds the nation that homelessness is an issue everywhere,” Henderson said. “We’re a small, smallish town. People need to know … that work is being done to help homeless people everywhere, and that the situation is pretty much the same everywhere for homeless people.”
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