How many times have you looked at someone with an inner aversion when they asked you to spare some change? And how often, knowing they had nothing, have you felt the coins burning in your pocket and told them you had nothing to spare?
No amount of statistics, documents, YouTube videos, pictures, stories, legislation or web links will make us compassionate people. Each of us must find kindheartedness within ourselves. So why is it that we avoid contact with a population that truly needs us? What is it that makes us put our heads down, and mumble “Sorry…” just loud enough to feel good about ourselves? Homelessness is an epidemic within our society; it is a great tragedy. Extreme poverty has become so common that rather than feeling empathy and extending a helping hand, we ignore and avoid it. The homeless are plagued by a variety of nasty stereotypes, including those surrounding mental illness and drugs and alcohol.
THE FACTS:
1. Our society has criminalized poverty
A 2014 survey the NLCHP found that 33 percent of cities make it illegal to stand around or loiter anyplace in the city, 18 percent make it a crime to sleep anywhere in public, 43 percent make it illegal to sleep in your car, and 53 percent make it illegal to sit or lie down in particular public places. And the number of cities criminalizing homelessness is steadily increasing. While programs offered to assist are decreasing.
2. More than half a million people in the US are homeless
On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the U.S., according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD further reports that: On any given night, over one third of the homeless in the U.S. are children under the age of 18. Thousands of homeless children are unaccompanied. Over 57,000 veterans are homeless.
3. The government doesn't help as much as you think
We all want to believe that “there are programs out there” to help those in need, and there are some. However, there is only enough public rental assistance to help about one out of every four extremely low-income households. Those who do not receive help are on waiting lists for several years.
4. Mental illness is a disease
Approximately 6 percent of the general population suffers from severe mental illness, 20 to 25 percent of the homeless suffer from severe mental illness, according to government studies. Back in the early 1900’s they would have been locked up against their will in government asylums. But somewhere along the way, someone decided that our asylums were unethical, and rather than reform the institution, we found it a lot easier to close them up. Thus, beginning in 1980’s, all of the people living both in poverty and with mental health problems ended up on the street with no means of medication or treatment, and often no agency to obtain those things on their own.
5. Substance abuse shouldn't discourage us from lending a helping hand
We should recognize drug abuse for what it truly is: an addiction, a disease. Using is often both a part of the cycle of poverty and a coping mechanism for those who are dealing with it. Drugs numb the pain of those who have been let down by society and may have absolutely nothing left. The homeless do not have the leisure of escaping reality through their cell phones, a movie, or taking a trip like many of us have the privilege of doing.
Call to action: Say hello. Make eye contact. Say things like, “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything to offer today, but how are you?” Then, listen. That’s all you have to do. Stop pretending people don’t exist and give them a chance to tell you their story. You may be surprised at what you hear; I always am. People may be in homeless situations for a variety of reasons. I am challenging us as a community to offer them the dignity that we all deserve as human beings.
