Homelessness
A response from article at Everyone Matters
Everyday we wake up and check our news feed on our expensive
smart phones… we see what our friends have shared, and we “like” funny stories
or photos or causes. Many people read the post from Everyone Matters about my
friend Kai, who has been traveling around the country interviewing homeless
people, gathering plans to make a homeless city, and lobbing congress for a
homeless Bill Of Rights. He did this all with no money and little support. He
succeeded because of perseverance, goals, great karma, and the help of
countless of folks he met along the way.
If you liked the post, and around 131 people did, what can
you do to help? We all are sympathetic to the plight of the homeless, but we
don’t think that we as individuals can do anything about it. That’s wrong, you
can. Sure you can donate to a cause, like Homeless Kai's Adventures in
Wanderland., but I’m sure you can also do things in your neighborhoods that
will help the homeless where you live. Most of us don’t see the homeless. They
are there right in front of us everyday but we don’t acknowledge them, we look
right past them, they are invisible to us.
Many people say, “Homeless people are all alcoholics, and if
I give them money they will just spend it on alcohol, so I’m not going to give
them any money”. This is a false paradigm in this country that all homeless are
alcoholics. Consider that over 2.5 million children are homeless in the US,
they don’t drink, they are just wondering where their next meal will come from.
That’s not to say that many homeless are not alcoholics. Just like a cross
section of the population, many people with homes are also alcoholics, pill
addicts, or have other dependency issues. Many people have mental problems, are
sick or are disabled as well. It’s the same with the homeless. Actually
homelessness causes alcoholism more than the other way around. Yes, I’ve known
many homeless people who are alcoholics, but consider this… Many of us look
forward to that drink after work, we’ve had a hard day, we put up with all the
problems and issues of our day, our boss was on our ass, we deserve to unwind
and forget our problems at the end of the day and have that Scotch or glass of
wine. Now imagine you are homeless. Everyday is a struggle for the basic
necessities of life. Every moment you want to escape it all, forget your
problems, this is why they escape to alcohol. I’m sure many of us would also.
BTW, Kai is not an alcoholic, nor a drug user, he doesn’t even smoke pot.
This morning I was reading my Facebook notifications and saw
a post where folks in my town said, “My water is turned off, does anyone else
not have water?” Many people replied
that their water was also turned off… obviously you could hear in their posts
that they were discouraged, upset and panicked. We feel that, even though we
pay for it, water is a God given right and without it we cannot survive for
long. We can’t make our coffee, wash dishes, take a shower, or take a dump. Now
consider the homeless, everyday they are out of water, everyday they search for
a basic cup of water, water to perhaps brush your teeth, water to drink, let
alone take a shower. Imagine that everyday you have to walk at least a few
miles to get your first cup of water in the morning…I wonder how my friends who
are temporarily without water in my town would complain about that? Water is
increasingly hard to find for homeless. Where would you go to find fresh water?
All the sprinkler systems at golf courses and roadways, at least in my
neighborhood, use reclaimed water to water the grass, and there are signs to
warn the homeless this water is unsafe to drink. Luckily, where I live, there
are public beach showers were you could fill up your water bottles and take a
shower. I’m sure they don’t have this in NYC. Starbucks will give you free water,
a cup to drink at least, but you can’t hang out at Starbucks all day long.
Last month I took a trip to LA, Long Beach to be exact, I
keep my eyes open for the homeless in need, as others were busy ignoring their
pleas (cardboard sign staying “I have a family, need water”), I made an effort
to pull over and hand them some money. I did this everywhere I saw homeless
people. I gave them all money, and you know what? Every time I did they said,
“God bless you brother”. How many times do you hear that from a stranger? Here
these folks are broke, homeless, hungry and destitute, but they tell me that
God should bless Me! God should bless them instead. The feeling you get from
hearing this is worth far more that the $5 or $10 you gave them. I implore you
to open your eyes and actually “see” the homeless people in your community,
find out what they need and give them the amount of money you can afford. They
are people just like the rest of us.
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