A Consequence of Poverty: Homelessness

I can't remember when it was that I started feeling strong emotions when it came to the issue of homelessness. I think it may have started in 1995 when I became a Phil Collins fan and "Another Day in Paradise" was my favorite song of all time. I wondered why this song spoke to me more than other songs did.

Of course, going to college in Madison was a big eye opener. Freshman year was the first time I ever saw people beg for money or sleep on park benches. I wondered how they got to this point in their lives. I was one of the people who would either ignore the person if they ask for money or lie to them saying I don't have anything. I think it was put in my head a while back that if you give them money, they will buy alcohol or cigarettes, not food or clothing or whatever else they actually need. Perhaps this is the case with a good portion of them, but we shouldn't assume it's always the case. Still, I find myself ignoring them if they ask for money; from time to time I'll toss in a few quarters or whatever loose change I have in my pocket. I should just try to talk to them, see what they have to say. Find out their story. Stop feeling like I'm better than them or too good for them. Get rid of the pride.

I couldn't turn away from my strong desire to help the homeless. I saw an opportunity a few years back to work at the men's homeless shelter through Blackhawk. My first time I was very nervous; I didn't know what to expect or how I should interact with the guys. The first few times working I had to learn the ropes of preparing the food, make sure it was ready to serve by 6, pack a few lunches, and then the cleanup afterwards. Man, getting up at 4:00 on a Tuesday morning is not something I would normally look forward to, but now I feel pumped and really excited to go and help out. I recognize most of the guys now and they give me a nice smile when they see me because they recognize me too. They are very thankful and grateful that they have people to help make food for them in the morning and they share their thanks with the rest of the volunteers. I liked it so much that I have started to help prepare dinner through High Point Church on the occasional Friday.

Recently, an idea from Buck to distribute blankets to the homeless sparked a drive in me. We would hand out fleece blankets to the homeless we see around the State St./Capital area on some weeknight before it gets too cold. I've started getting a plan together and last Saturday when Amber and I were out to dinner, we were on State and I asked her to help me take count of the homeless we see as we walked up and down the street. I think the count was something like 35-40. And that was with the temp. at about 75 degrees. Perhaps in doing this we can talk to a few of them, establish good will and eventually perhaps share the gospel with them.

The count at the shelter when the weather is nice is around 60, then in the winter or bad weather the count goes up to about 120. And this is only at one shelter in Madison, I can't imagine working on the south side of Chicago, I would go into culture shock!

There is still so much work to be done but I feel that this community has the right type of attitude and the size is small enough that we can really make a big difference in some of the lives of these people. There are tons of opportunities available for volunteers. Porch Light http://www.porchlightinc.org/ is an organization that runs most of the shelters in this area. They are dedicated to finding a solution to the homelessness issue; check it out, they have stats on the homelessness in Madison and other ways people can help. They are always looking for a few good people, especially in the winter months to help out at their shelters. If volunteering isn't your thing, they also accept donations as well :-)