Homelessness and Outreach…In Steps
I am not an expert on homelessness by any stretch of the imagination. I first lowered one hesitant toe into these waters a few years back while working to serve the poor and homeless at a once-a-week community dinner at a nearby church. My friend joined me after a few times and we both developed a modest sense of satisfaction by directly serving those in a season of struggle. But it wasn’t too long before my patience began to wear out, and I became frustrated by the familiar faces because I thought these people weren’t making progress as fast as they should. I wondered if I was just enabling a bunch of freeloaders and addicts. My friend and I convinced each other that we were doing exactly that, and so we broke free of what started to feel like an obligation.
A few months back, I wandered into the homeless outreach group at my church. My intentions were better this time but not perfect. What I didn’t expect was that on this very first outing, my sheltered and warped views about homelessness would begin to crumble and change. The people that I interacted with that day on the streets were polite, intelligent, grateful, and most shocking of all- some were dressed and groomed like they just came from working at the office.
I am really starting to believe that this is how an outreach or ministry is born. People like my newer friends Dustin Cross who leads a worship service at Nicklesville, or one of my church’s pastors DeAnza Spaulding, or Rev. Rick Reynolds of Operation Nightwatch- they aren’t passionate about helping the homeless because they were born as humanitarian giants. Instead, and in their own unique ways, they have developed a heart and an understanding because they have taken a series of steps close, and closer again, towards people on the street. They are effective because they chose to act; they didn’t choose to act because they were first effective. But there is an idea floating around in our shallow American culture; a vision of an humanitarian savant- someone who sits across from Oprah on that plush couch, and in a way that’s both hip and casual, reveals that he or she just had a knack for doing the good work. As a result, this enigma of a person now has hundreds of shiny outreach centers built all over the world, and participates in photo ops with enviable people at every turn. Unfortunately, our idea of this humanitarian guru is not helpful because I believe God wants us to first get our hands a bit dirty in serving rather than waiting to cultivate a brilliant outreach plan or polished persona. I also believe that God wants you and me to enter the work of the Lord AS WE ARE, which means that we bring our phobias, our misconceptions, our lack of enthusiasm, and even our dwarfed sense of compassion to the starting line. God can change and grow those things in us, which is great news because it saves us from having to take the time to fake it.
It can be so easy to feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the homelessness issue that a person might ignore the matter because it simply numbs them out. Even worse, a person might invent lies and nasty generalizations about the homeless- just like I did- as a way of insulating from the pulse of conscience. But as you step closer, even with questionable intentions, the homeless will change in your experience from an undefined group to people with names and stories just like the rest of us. The main reason we care about a friend’s unemployment is because they are a friend. Otherwise, they’re just part of a statistic on the nightly news. It’s the same with the homeless. Struggle begins to really matter when we allow ourselves to see those struggling as individuals.
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There are around 1.25 million homeless kids under the age of 14 in the United States.
To discuss the complications and causes of homelessness would require far more space than we have here. But I have found it helpful to think of this important issue in the way explained by my tour guide during a recent visit to Nicklesville: the reasons why people are homeless are as varied and innumerable as the individuals themselves. There are addiction and mental illness issues at times, but these things are not exclusive to the homeless, just as vanity is not exclusive to celebrities. Homelessness, like our response to it, can happen in steps. At times, people find themselves without shelter after a cascading series of setbacks, piled one on top of another until the options run out. Poverty is not reserved for the lazy. That is one of the more dangerous myths about homelessness because it allows us to not only ignore the problem but to pass judgement on those who are caught in it. The homeless also make progress in steps; something I had never considered for some odd reason until recently. Their lives, like ours, have ups and downs.
There’s no perfect way to learn about this issue, or perfect way to lend a hand. There is no perfect thing to say to these men and women and children. There is no perfect item that makes the harsh reality of their situation vanish. That’s okay. Just educate yourself, and if you then decide to help, remember that good things usually begin by putting one foot in front of the other.
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 11:59 am
you also cannot minimize that of my friends that are non-housed, most have jobs. my outdoor friends are the new working poor, unable to sustain a family on a minimum wage job.
the number 1 cause leading to “homelessness” are insurmountable bills from healthcare institutions. a crisis happens that begins to impact peoples finances. it is a very slippery slope that one spirals down usually rather quickly.
I would say that the #1 thing that keeps someone from becoming “homelessness” is a strong healthy community. And likewise, the #1 thing that gets a person off the streets is not a social service but a strong community of people who will journey alongside that person in their situation.
The problem is that we don’t and won’t… The issue is not that we don’t care about these people but the issue is that we don’t personally know them and aren’t in a reciprocal relationship with them. They aren’t our friends, they’re just another homeless person.
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:46 pm
It has long been my feeling that anyone who looks at people who are homeless and wonders “what’s WRONG with them?” needs to keep one fundamental thing in mind: they are people. They have the EXACT same desires, needs, faults, strengths, fears, and struggles as you do. Every person on this planet wants to connect with other human beings; its what we are at every level of our existence. As Ian stated, mental illness is not the complete story or even part of it for MANY of the homeless people in this country. Its a complex mix of life’s situations that lead many people to that condition and if anyone ever needed help from the fellow man, thats when its most important. I am glad I know people who don’t look away.
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Hey Dustin. You have a rare grasp on this issue for a guy with a home, because you are a true doer rather than a bunch of empty words. I’m glad I have you to learn from. Thanks for your friendship and for setting a much needed example.
Good stuff, Bri, and true…
Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Ian, what you write is true, it is SO true. On the other side of the coin, I admit to being disheartened by those that cloud the clarity of your writing. It is unfortunate that the abuse of a system leads to the wrong perception. I work downtown and also live in subsidized housing. It brings out all kinds of people, from all walks of life, creed and belief. It is such strange line to dance, the compassion for the “true” unfortunate situations, the miasma of struggle against staggeringly unfair and often unjust odds, and the anger at the abuse of people’s charity and kindness. In working downtown, I’ve seen the mentally ill, have family who struggle with it…and yet, I’ve got the lists of pedophiles using the very programs that assist families in need…I know that the cycle of violence contributes to a whole kind of complicated topic that I will only glance upon here, but I always find myself searching faces downtown, thinking, “are you Barron Padraig? Are you Mike Bickel? If so….sorry, back away from my children, and go back to your shelter for help” I’ve been shoplifted by the alcohol abusers, and verbally assaulted by people my own age who are totally physically & emotionally capable of thriving when I’ve declined their request for spare change, as having two kids and being a single parent- nothing is “spare.” I admit with no shame in that case that I am enraged those my age that act that way.
But it’s hard at the best of times to say that…. my urge for wanting to help and yet my knowledge of wrongdoings I know are being committed are difficult to reconcile without some kind of guilt. I am fortunate that where I live there are many programs that are a boon to our community, so that I can donate directly to them so the proceeds go to those who truly deserve the assistance, the children’s shelter, the teen help centers, the single mother programs, and the extremely generous food bank. Even these are not enough, and for that there is a higher power that will without fail be the ultimate solution to these awful problems. In the meantime, however, I am grateful that there are so many caring people still for the people who truly are in need of shelter and care.
Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I also forgot to mention that the schools here do an excellent job at least offering support to the children of homeless families. My daughter’s school offers free lunch programs, and the teachers request if anyone can spare a dollar or extra field trip fund or supplies to do so for those who cannot afford it. Of course, it is never enough, but it does bring home a strong reminder that children are oft the ones who suffer most, and that it isn’t a “distant” problem, but one that is right in our own backyard, the classmate, the other kid on the bus, the girl on the playground in the morning, the boy at recess on the swings. The reminder that it isn’t just a pariah group of people, but that it can happen to anyone, at any time.
Sunday, July 5, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Hey Heather, thanks for taking the time to respond so honestly. I really admire the fact that you continue to wrestle with this issue and looks for ways to help, in spite of those first hand examples of people who abuse the help that others truly need.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 10:46 am
i hate seeing homeless people. it makes me sad to see that they have to live like that. =[
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 4:08 pm
i understand your frustration but they don’t have to live like that if enough people get motivated to help in different ways, and if the public mindset changes about what should be our nation’s priorities. doing something good is the best response to feeling bad.
thanks for the comment shameka and welcome to the site!