Was in Old Town Pasadena yesterday and was struck by the wild contrasts.
Homeless people all over the place and lots of upscale shopping (I won’t tell you how much I paid for soap).
The most “popping” contrast was looking at homeless people in the same field of vision as Tiffany’s Jewelry.
I live in downtown Huntington Beach, which has virtually no homeless (we are across the “Orange Curtain” from LA County), so this is not something I see a lot of.
It troubled me and the images continue to haunt my thoughts.
Some questions/statements for your Advent season musings:
1) How can we help the homeless without controlling their mobility and freedom? The easy thing would be to round them up, lock them up, and take care of them. But can we do that in a free society?
2) Do you think that a majority of the homeless are mentally ill? I tend to think so. What does this mean for our assumptions as we try to help?
3) Is human contact and genuinely “showing up” for them helpful, or would they rather we just gave to them?
4) I saw one “operator” collecting cash from several homeless “employees” (a la Oliver and the Artful Dodger). Is this the exception or more widespread than we think?
5) Homeless means “no home.” What if basic shelter were guaranteed? Who should provide it? Churches? Government? Benefactors?
6) Do you feel taken advantage of when you give money and it ends up making things worse (i.e. “give a drunk a drink”)
7) Would Jesus stop and give money to each of them?
8) I am reminded of my Bible teacher at the University of Bonn in Germany, Wolfgang Schrage, who used to go for walks with me through the downtown area. He always had a pocket of 2-DM coins (worth $1.50) which he would hand out while conversing with each homeless person–he knew them all by name. Something was right about that. What are your thoughts?
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5 comments
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December 3, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Allen
You’re being influenced by circumstance. I believe the substance viewpoint is, “Does the person understand the environment they live in and how to take care of themselves in the environment?” If the answer is yes, and they want to be a successful part of that environment, then facilitating their ability to change their circumstance would be a courteous gesture on your part. If the answer is no, now you’ve got a sink hole situation that will likely never resolve itself from a circumstance perspective.
When Jesus was alive, the whole of the planet was not healed. Why did he not seek all throughout the planet and heal them? He offered advice and selectively healed. What does that mean for those that follow him? Pick a few people to target for circumstantial improvement while offering wisdom to others? What if the only way for some people to get to heaven is to live in a homeless state of circumstance within the environment they are in?
December 3, 2009 at 11:30 pm
David Housholder
Wow. I’m going to have to process that one for a week or two. Outstanding post, Allen.
January 6, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Jan OConnor
Allen – ” What if the only way for some people to get to heaven is to live in a homeless state of circumstance within the environment they are in?”
This need further explanation. Are you suggesting that some must hit rock bottom before they look up, or are you thinking in existential terms?
December 5, 2009 at 4:51 pm
heatherlyn
David, thanks for paying attention and asking these questions. Peace, HL
January 7, 2010 at 4:07 am
Barbara
Dave,
You pose some interesting questions and Allen had some good remarks.
To start, don’t think for one moment that the homeless people hanging out near Tiffany’s was a coincidence.
I don’t know how the percentages of homelessness v total population compare in the OC v LA counties however don’t let what you see out your front door fool you in to believing that homelessness is not a real problem in OC. We have approx 35,000 homeless with over 10,000 of those being children. (That count was before the recession). Yes, HB has a tough policy against loitering so you probably don’t see as much.
In response to your questions.
1.) The only way to help the homeless is to do it without controlling mobility and freedom. Success is only found by those who seek it. Social justice is accomplished through empowerment. Yes. making resources and tools available and teaching people how to use them is vital but we cannot force people to accept our help even if “we” determine it is for their own good.
2.) My experience with the homeless community, which is full time at a homeless shelter in OC is that the majority is not mentally ill, however, over 90% present with addictions and substance abuse. This is not to say that there aren’t a number of psychotics living on the street but I would guess that a lot of what we see is drunkenness and the effects of various drugs. In the shelter community which is clean and sober we see the effects of withdrawal and detox as well as the lasting effects of previous substance abuse. It often looks like mental illness.
3.) Human contact may not always be helpful for every individual but in my opinion it never hurts. In all of my efforts, (on the street, not in the shelter) I have spoken to dozens of people, given money, food, encouragement, prayer, listened to their stories, told them about the shelter and other food programs… I don’t know if I have affected any change, but I believe I was a bright spot for that moment. My interactions with people on the street are Spirit led so I do believe that there is a purpose for each one.
4.) The “Artful Dodger”, most likely, is not homeless. It makes me think of the movie Slumdog Millionaire…So sad. I hope it’s not rampant…Don’t know.
5.) The guarantee of basic shelter… It’s a tough question. Yes of course! WWJD? Right? On the other hand, who gets to use that shelter? Everyone? While there are homeless individuals who are victims to hard times and circumstance including the victims close to my heart, older teens who have aged out of the foster system, the majority have a long history of making poor choices. Without education, giving the latter basic shelter might only enable them to continue on their destructive paths.
6.)I don’t really ever know if the money I give goes to drugs or alcohol. I always ask that they buy food. The they look at me through glassy eyes and tell me that they are clean and that they will buy food. Then, 9 times out of 10 they bless me. Like I said before, I don’t give unless the Spirit moves me to so in those cases I don’t really question what will become of my gift. (In the shelter environment NO! We do not enable individuals to make poor choices…It is very different)
7.) I wish I knew what Jesus would do too. I have prayed about it many times. I like to believe that He would give them money only after He finished healing them.
Guess by now you have figured out this issue is near and dear to my heart. Thanks for asking these questions and provoking thought.
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