invisible

So many times I think homeless people are treated as invisible.  Some hang out in places where so many people see them, but how many actually look at them, talk to them, acknowledge their worth as a human being?

In America, it’s not acceptable to be weak, vulnerable, dependent, or broken. I think being homeless embodies at least one of the traits. So America ignores them, writes them off as failures and sees them as a number rather than a father, mother, sister, high school friend. We avoid them at all costs. But when has it every been alright to dehumanize someone based on their circumstance?

Last year I remember waiting at a red light off a I-65 exit. There was a homeless guy on the side of the road. I did everything I could think of to avoid eye contact and pretend I was busy. I mean really? How busy can you really be sitting in your car at a red light? Exactly, not very. I thought, “I have no money to give him-so I need to not look at him.”

How does that even make sense? 

I’ve learned something new lately. When I thought I had nothing to give, I really had everything to give.

I can give respect.

I can give time.

I can listen.

I’ve learned that the homeless community needs more than money. They need respect–to be treated like human beings-treated just like us–because they are just like us.

None of us are invisible.

Some stats…

A graph on homeless demographics

 

Homeless Demographics

The Tennessean Reports: Perception plays key role in handling homeless

Article appeared in the Opinion section of the Tennessean on Monday, July 28, 2008
One of the best measures of character for Nashville is in the way the city handles its homeless population. 

Various approaches apply to addressing homelessness . As the city sifts through all sorts of suggested remedies, its real intentions and motivations will determine whether Nashville is the quality city it likes to think of itself as being. 

The motivations for decreasing Nashville’s homeless population have become two-fold. They should foremost be to genuinely help the homeless in ways that can get them into sustained shelter. The other goal has become to clean up areas where homeless people tend to congregate. Finding homes for them solves both problems. 

It is common knowledge that being approached by — or sometimes just being near — someone who is asking for money or is in an extremely poor state of hygiene is a condition people find objectionable. Those problems are most pronounced downtown, and downtown is where a focus has been put on attracting more dwellers. 

The city is constantly seeking ways to solve the homeless problem in ways that can help everyone. It requires creativity, but most of all it takes deep compassion to understand the issues homeless people face every day and night. Some ideas for solutions sound unusual. But just as homeless people should not be judged before learning more about how they got in that circumstance, ideas for decreasing homelessness should not be judged before they’re fully understood. 

Police have been enforcing laws to preserve “quality of life” downtown. That has involved making or writing more than 500 arrests or citations for offenses such as aggressive panhandling, trespassing or public urination. Tent cities have been torn down. Hundreds of people have been offered help. Some have refused help. 

Along the way, a downtown police commander asked homeless people what they needed, and some described scenarios of how it would help them to be in another specific city. The commander looked for donors to help make that happen by funding a bus ticket out of town. That came off in some ways as a plan to ship homeless people away. But by most accounts, it was well-intended help from the commander. 

Handling homelessness demands tremendous sensitivity. Tearing down tent cities does not look like a sensitive remedy. The focus needs to be on what can be done to help. It makes perfect sense to assist someone with a bus ticket if that’s what the person needs and desires, but that’s not the answer for the vast majority of the homeless population in Nashville. What they need is a home. 

Many Nashvillians do go out of their way to help people on the streets. Some people complain about panhandling. Some don’t like the idea that a handout results in a homeless person buying a beer. But when a homeless person buys a beverage in a convenience store, that person is a taxpayer — as much a Nashvillian as the richest person in Nashville. 

There will always be exceptions, and some people do prefer life on the streets. Most don’t. Nashville should not want to be known for how it disperses a homeless population. It should be known for what it does to help homeless people be homeless no more. Each person has his or her own story. Each remedy has its own effects. How each case is handled helps determine the character of Nashville. Character is what determines if Nashville is a great city.

The Homeless Guy – A Blog

“The Homeless Guy,” otherwise known as Kevin Barbieux, is a chronically homeless man who suffers from depression and social anxiety, making it difficult for him to hold down a job. Read his blog by clicking on the photo above.

Too Early to Think This Much.

Hillary and I woke up at 5:50 this morning to leave SafeHaven from a fun overnight experience. We gathered our things and ran outside into the bitter cold. And by bitter, I mean…bitter. We shivered while waiting for her car to warm up, and I commented on the people taking a leisurely stroll across the street. I thought they must have been crazy for being up at 6 a.m. and for voluntarily being outside. Did I mention how cold it was?

We left SafeHaven, but before we could leave the neighborhood a train stopped us. On any normal occasion, we would have left 3rd ave. and been back to our warm apartments in minutes. But this time, I was stuck–and the world around me stuck in my mind.

I visit SafeHaven, run in and out of the cold–it’s like a departure from reality, but not real. Because we don’t live there–we can leave anytime we like, weather it’s the shelter or the elements. We only get a small glimpse of life at a shelter, and never really get a look at life on the streets. The closest I ever gotten to being on the streets in the cold is that short run to my car, short walk to class–but all of those have an end. For a homeless person, there’s never a definite end. They have no control over their well-being. You never know when you’ll be inside again or get a warm bed. The cold, rain, wind, snow, or heat–that’s their reality. They depend upon the kindness of others.  It’s something I just cannot fathom–depending on other people for such vital things as food and shelter.

Giving so little can mean so much.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

While on the mission to complete this multimedia project, one of the things that has really stuck with me is the lack of respect that surround the homeless. On a street corner where a homeless person is struggling to stay warm, they are rarely given a second look. Most people think they are just one of those lazy people who are unwilling to find a job so they rely on other people to give them money. Don’t they realize that each one of those individuals has a story, a circumstance, that got them where they are today and that they are still human beings like the rest of us and deserve to be treated with respect?

Before this I probably wouldn’t have even thought about this issue. My mother works at a prison so I’ve always been told to steer as far away from homeless people as I can because of their dangerous reputation. Now that I’ve spent time with homeless people, even families, I’m realizing that even a smile or a kind word can have a positive impact on them. Why can’t we just have a little compassion and instead of casting them out of society, treat them with the respect they deserve?

Daniel’s Family

Homeless Families

Recently, our group has spent some time with homeless families at the Safe Haven Shelter, which is for single women and their children. According to National Alliance to End Homelessness, 248,500 persons in families are homeless, which is very unfortunate considering the affect it has on children.

According to NAEH, the underlying characteristic of homeless families is their extreme poverty. “Fortunately, homelessness among families is typically not a long-term experience,” the Web site said. “The vast majority of families are in shelter a relatively brief period of time, and do not have a subsequent homeless episode. There are, however, a small number of families who, despite receiving a housing subsidy, will remain in shelter for an extended period of time or have multiple homeless episodes.”

For the sake of the families, I hope this is true.

Tent City to close?

News Channel 5 did a story on November 20th regarding the current status of the Tent City closure here in Nashville. A police chief says the property is privately owned and the residents are trespassing…

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9390635 

An Afternoon at Nashville Rescue Mission

Cassidy, Hillary and I went to the Nashville Resue Mission one afternoon to talk those who use the services available there. According to the Web site, NRM seeks to help the hurting of Middle Tennessee by offering food, clothing and shelter to the homeless and recovery programs to those enslaved in life degrading problems. When we walked in, we talked to the director of transient operations about our project and he was more than willing to help us with whatever we needed. Thanks to him, we were able to interview five men who lived at NRM about their experiences and thoughts on how the media portray homelessness.

Much to our surprise, most of the men were unwilling to to go into detail over how they became homeless and what their stories were. A few shared a general overview with their experiences, such as a sudden illness or a bad experience with a family member they were living with, but other than that, they preferred to keep their stories to themselves. We just assumed they would be more than willing to tell us about everything that happened to them because that’s the way they’re portrayed in society. Whenever a homeless person is given the opportunity to tell his/her story, they openly give details about their situation. I guess we’re vulnerable to accepting stereotypes as well, even if we are out to discontinue them.

Even though the men did not give much detail on their personal stories, they did shed light on how homeless men think the media portray them. A few said that they are lumped into one category as dirty and uneducated even though they have college educations, proving that every group has a stereotype that may fit some, but definitely not all. One man recounted a particular occurrence where he was treated as less than human just bacuse he was homeless.

It was fascinating to step out of our comfort zones and hear what actual homeless people had to say instead of relying on what others say about them. It’s something more people should do in order to break down the stereotypes that exist.