After his release from a Siberian prison, Alexander Solzhenitsyn gained overnight fame as a novelist. One day he was summoned to the office of an admiring Soviet official. In those comfortable surroundings, the agony of the Soviet prison camp seemed very far away. He stated, “It is impossible for a man who is warm to understand one who is cold.”
The homeless live in our city but they live in a different world. Each day they have to find something to eat and some place to lay their head at night. It could be at the mission or a tent in the woods or beneath a bridge. But eating and finding a place to sleep is not a major issue in our life. Many of the homeless try to work at odd jobs such as Labor Finders to make a few bucks for the necessities of life. Most of us have permanent jobs that provide steady income for our necessities. If we lose a job, we receive unemployment income while we seek employment. The homeless can not seek permanent employment because they do not have an address or telephone number. Because of that fact, most employers would not hire someone with an unstable life style. To get a better understanding of their plight, I read some blogs that are written by homeless people. Probably the most popular blog is http://www.thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/ who on a particular post outlined the differences between us and the homeless as follows:
The homeless live in our city but they live in a different world. Each day they have to find something to eat and some place to lay their head at night. It could be at the mission or a tent in the woods or beneath a bridge. But eating and finding a place to sleep is not a major issue in our life. Many of the homeless try to work at odd jobs such as Labor Finders to make a few bucks for the necessities of life. Most of us have permanent jobs that provide steady income for our necessities. If we lose a job, we receive unemployment income while we seek employment. The homeless can not seek permanent employment because they do not have an address or telephone number. Because of that fact, most employers would not hire someone with an unstable life style. To get a better understanding of their plight, I read some blogs that are written by homeless people. Probably the most popular blog is http://www.thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/ who on a particular post outlined the differences between us and the homeless as follows:
There are homeless people who can’t hold a job, but there are also homeless people who hold full time jobs, so you can’t blame a lack of work ethic as a cause of homelessness.
There are homeless people who can’t read or write, but there are also homeless people who have PhDs, so you can’t blame a lack of education as a cause of homelessness.
There are homeless people who are mentally ill, but there are also homeless people who are completely sane, so you can’t blame mental illness as a cause of homelessness.
There are homeless people, who are addicts of every kind, but there are also homeless people who have no addictions at all, so you can’t blame addictions as a cause of homelessness.
There are people who are unemployed who have homes, there are people who are uneducated who have homes, there are people who are mentally ill who have homes, there are people who are addicted to drugs who have homes.
So really, the cause of homelessness has to be another aspect of humanity we have so far failed to deal with.
His point is that there are very few differences between us and the homeless and the solution is that humanity (government or ministries) has failed to solve this problem. But if humanity could solve this problem it would have happened a long time ago. No one likes see anyone suffering regardless of the reason.
Our response to their plight each Tuesday night is to help them through relationships. Based on these relationships we can best determine to what extent we can help each individual. We may give blankets, clothes, and food to everyone but not money or rides in our vehicles unless we have established a relationship with that person. We make some mistakes but we have a heart to serve people who are less fortunate and have real physical needs. We can’t solve the homeless problem but we can try to make a difference each Tuesday night.
Last Tuesday Food for Life made a difference with the assistance of 18 volunteers to provide 60 hot meals and temporary housing for 2 homeless women. It is our way of helping one person at a time to find some relief from their plight of homelessness.
Thank you to everyone who provide financial support, prayers, and donate their time each week so Food for Life can make a difference in one person’s life one day each week.
~Marc
