Airman finds sense of belonging in volunteering

  • Published
  • By Bud Cordova
  • Nucleus writer

A wife, mother, student and Airman in the New Mexico Air National Guard wears all those hats and still helps those less fortunate.

Staff Sgt. Natalie Dixon is with the 150th Special Operations Wing Logistics Squadron. Before that, she was in the Marine Corps for more than five years.

She has lived in Albuquerque for two years and was finding it hard to adjust to the culture compared to Oakland, California. To adapt, make friends and help people in need, she volunteered to work with the Help the Homeless Initiative-Feed the People.

“When I moved to Albuquerque, I tried to get out and help people because I noticed a lot of people on corners, in front of stores and other places asking for money,” Dixon said.

However, the people she tried to help often told her they wanted money and not the things she offered them, like food and clothing.

She said it was beginning to upset her, because the ones asking for money only were preventing people who needed the resources she could provide from receiving them.

The Help the Homeless Initiative-Feed the People was founded by Will Williams and is a local organization.

“I started it by handing out 30 to 40 sandwiches a week,” Williams said.

Now, Help the Homeless Initiative gives meals to almost 300 people a week.

As the organization grew and more people began to participate, the initiative partnered with Faith Temple Baptist Church.

Niya Johnson set up a partnership with the church to enable non-profit status until the initiative can file for the status on its own.

“My husband knows how helping people is my therapy, so one day at a church event he introduced me to one of our church members, Niya Johnson,” Dixon said.

Johnson, president of the initiative, told Dixon about the many things the organization does.

The next Saturday, Dixon helped stock purses with toiletries, feminine hygiene products and clothing to hand out to homeless women, along with spaghetti plates, water and prayer to those who wanted it.

“The best thing about (Dixon) volunteering is the veterans accepting more help because a service member is assisting,” Williams said. “Some of the homeless veterans didn’t even want to tell me their name until Natalie started helping.”

By having more military members, Williams hopes to raise awareness for homeless veterans and get them better services.

Dixon grew up watching her parents and uncle help the homeless. She later spent eight months in Djibouti, a small country on the horn of Africa, and Ethiopia, helping kids in orphanages.

“Just the look on people’s faces when you help them — the smiles, the expression, the joy, the love from them ­— was such an amazing feeling to me,” Dixon said.

She said she has taken her daughter Justus, 5, with her when she volunteers for Help the Homeless so Justus can understand that no matter how rough she feels things are going in her life, there’s someone wishing to be in her shoes.

For more information on the initiative, visit helpthehomelessinitiativenm.com. The organization can also be found on Facebook at facebook.com/helpthehomelessinitiative or by calling 261-8978.

A donation box is located at the 150th SOW LRS office, Building 1056.

“We have all these other things going on that are dividing people, when there is such a bigger issue we need to deal with than what’s dividing us, and it is eye-opening to witness the homelessness in this city,” Williams said.