Today, I want to address something that I am sure almost everyone has encountered. People who are homeless in the streets. So many people walk by the homeless as if there is no one there. We hurry past, avoiding eye contact as if we may “catch” something if we look. Why do we do this? Is it because we are judging? For many people, yes, that is the case. People assume that the homeless are lazy and unmotivated. Is it because we are afraid? This also can be the case. People fear anyone who is different. We are afraid that these people may be violent or carry disease and cause us harm or illness.
The reality is, the homeless are PEOPLE, just like us. Many of them once had the same type of life we are blessed enough to have. Most homeless are not in this circumstance because they CHOSE to be. They are homeless because of circumstances they had no control over.
According to statistics provided by the National Coalition for the Homeless, there are seven (7) main factors that contribute to homeless.
1) Poverty (not making enough money to afford standard living)
2) Lack of affordable housing
3) Job loss
4) Lack of health care
5) Mental illness
6) Substance abuse
7) Domestic abuse
The National Alliance to End Homelessness states that there are 564,708 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the US. 36,907 (6.38%) are children, 47,725 (8.33%) are veterans, and 269,991 (47.6%) are disabled and unable to work.
Now, let’s talk about a large number of the remaining homeless population. A large number of them had good jobs with a more than reasonable salary/wage and full benefits. Then we hit a recession. Many many thousands of companies were forced to downsize, often starting with the firing of the highest earners. These people lose their income and benefits. They have to take jobs that pay minimum wage, if they can even find one. Next they reach the poverty line and lose their homes because they can no longer afford to pay even a portion of the mortgage. Sadly, in a recession, this is happening to vast quantities of people in the same time period. This leads to a lack of affordable housing and many of these people do not have family or friends in a position to house them. Some may find a place to stay for a lower cost, but what happens when they incur tremendous medical bills because they or someone in the household get injured or extremely ill? They can no longer afford to run ANY type of household and end up homeless and in the streets. The bottom line is this: WE DO NOT KNOW THESE PEOPLES’ STORIES OR HOW THEY GOT THERE.
I have heard many people say, “Why don’t these people just go get a job at McDonalds (or some other random place)?”. Reality check people! No physical address, no employment at most places. Most places have minimum requirements for employment, and with no home and no money, it is extremely difficult to meet these.
What I want to reiterate and burn into the brains of the people who walk past the homeless as if they aren’t there, or say cruel and hurtful things to them, is this: You would be very hard pressed to find a person living in the streets that would tell you that this is the life they CHOSE for themselves.
The homeless population is NOT made up of invisible people. Many started just like you and I. These people had hopes and dreams for themselves and their families and most still do. Each time we walk past them without so much as a glance, or say something rude like “get a job”, we crush just a little more of their hope and belittle their dreams.
What would this world be like if we took a few minutes to talk to someone and listen to their story? What if we all tried to make a difference by giving away some clothes that we will never wear again, or just give someone a bottle of water or a piece of fruit? What if, at the very least, we LOOK at them and give them a smile and say “hello”? These people are not invisible or lazy or any other derogatory term we use. They are HUMAN BEINGS, and whatever their story, they deserve respect and have the right to have dignity as much as anyone else. We need to stop taking that away and start giving them more! Remember, one day, circumstances could just as easily tear YOUR world apart as it did theirs.
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