Good morning, SUCH KINDNESS I’m going to try to get my mind off the news and focus more on books and ideas in the coming weeks. One thing is certain, as I’ve said many times over the past few years—I’m not going back to cable news. I’ll continue to read news each morning and perhaps tuning in for Meet the Press or Fareed Zacharia but I consider long periods with cable news, the relentless “breaking news” and endless pundits is an unhealthy way to live.
Glenn-I am not a big commenter, but I wanted to thank you for what you wrote in this piece, and to let you know how accurate you are, by bringing attention to our "unhoused" or homeless population. My dad, a New testament and Preaching professor turned me on to your writing, sending me two of your articles on the unhoused. I currently work in Los Angeles County, California as a homeless outreach team coordinator. I manage 6 outreach teams and coordinate where they go, in southeast la county, 28 cities that are not incorporated Los Angeles. We cover 3 rivers that come through our territory as well. The riverbeds are my most favorite place to be as there are the most down and out. I am lucky, as an outreach coordinator, I manage the teams and don't have to take on a caseload of people. So most of my day is spent, with teams, but not doing paperwork! (Score!) That means I get to simply talk to the people we meet, day in and day out. I have been doing this for 10 years now, and have talked to literally 1000's of people. I get to hear about their lives, their ups their downs, where they're from, why they became homeless, what brought them to be in this very place on this very day. I get to laugh with them, cry with them. Of the 1000's of people that I have talked to they have only one thing in common. And that is that they all have a story and no place to go. No two people have ever ended up homeless for exactly the same reason. As you have said there are many different things that may have happened to a person. Trauma, bad homes, lack of money, lack of support, mental health, physical health, drugs and alcohol, no employment, just a plethora of things. But one thing I can say for sure out of all the stories I have heard, is that not one of them thought that this could ever happen to them. Not a single person I have ever talked to decided one day, as they woke up and stepped out of bed, that today would be a good day to become homeless and walked away from their shelter and food. Not a single person woke up and said I am going to get hooked on drugs today, and so that is what they did. They all have long, intense, traumatizing stories, about how they got to where they are. Just when I think I've heard it all, I haven't. I have come to the concrete conclusion that no one wants to live on the streets if they had other options. I also speak to many groups, and I get the naysayers. like you mention in your article. Most of the time I hear the the homeless are just lazy drug addicts that don't want to work, or get housed. I can again tell you that that is just not the case. People don't want to live on the streets, and statistics show that most people who abuse alcohol and drugs did not abuse them before they lived on the streets, meaning they wouldn't be addicts had it not been for being homeless. They use to cope with the horrible conditions. I feel in a sense like I have just rewritten your article in different words and not as nice and concise, But I guess what I am saying is from my vast experience, NO one thinks they're going to become homeless, no one chooses to become homeless and no one chooses to become an addict. If people would stop and think about that for a second, maybe if they would realize that they too could become homeless, and if they would walk in another's shoes. I often tell the story of my brother...when he lived in Los Angeles. One day he was going into 7-11 when an unhoused man asked him for some change. My brother said (while he didn't have any change), "How you doing?" The man turned around with a tear in his eye and said, "thank you sir, you are the first person who has actually acknowledged me all day." Yes Glenn, it's time we participate in the lives of others and not just be passive observers.
Glenn-I am not a big commenter, but I wanted to thank you for what you wrote in this piece, and to let you know how accurate you are, by bringing attention to our "unhoused" or homeless population. My dad, a New testament and Preaching professor turned me on to your writing, sending me two of your articles on the unhoused. I currently work in Los Angeles County, California as a homeless outreach team coordinator. I manage 6 outreach teams and coordinate where they go, in southeast la county, 28 cities that are not incorporated Los Angeles. We cover 3 rivers that come through our territory as well. The riverbeds are my most favorite place to be as there are the most down and out. I am lucky, as an outreach coordinator, I manage the teams and don't have to take on a caseload of people. So most of my day is spent, with teams, but not doing paperwork! (Score!) That means I get to simply talk to the people we meet, day in and day out. I have been doing this for 10 years now, and have talked to literally 1000's of people. I get to hear about their lives, their ups their downs, where they're from, why they became homeless, what brought them to be in this very place on this very day. I get to laugh with them, cry with them. Of the 1000's of people that I have talked to they have only one thing in common. And that is that they all have a story and no place to go. No two people have ever ended up homeless for exactly the same reason. As you have said there are many different things that may have happened to a person. Trauma, bad homes, lack of money, lack of support, mental health, physical health, drugs and alcohol, no employment, just a plethora of things. But one thing I can say for sure out of all the stories I have heard, is that not one of them thought that this could ever happen to them. Not a single person I have ever talked to decided one day, as they woke up and stepped out of bed, that today would be a good day to become homeless and walked away from their shelter and food. Not a single person woke up and said I am going to get hooked on drugs today, and so that is what they did. They all have long, intense, traumatizing stories, about how they got to where they are. Just when I think I've heard it all, I haven't. I have come to the concrete conclusion that no one wants to live on the streets if they had other options. I also speak to many groups, and I get the naysayers. like you mention in your article. Most of the time I hear the the homeless are just lazy drug addicts that don't want to work, or get housed. I can again tell you that that is just not the case. People don't want to live on the streets, and statistics show that most people who abuse alcohol and drugs did not abuse them before they lived on the streets, meaning they wouldn't be addicts had it not been for being homeless. They use to cope with the horrible conditions. I feel in a sense like I have just rewritten your article in different words and not as nice and concise, But I guess what I am saying is from my vast experience, NO one thinks they're going to become homeless, no one chooses to become homeless and no one chooses to become an addict. If people would stop and think about that for a second, maybe if they would realize that they too could become homeless, and if they would walk in another's shoes. I often tell the story of my brother...when he lived in Los Angeles. One day he was going into 7-11 when an unhoused man asked him for some change. My brother said (while he didn't have any change), "How you doing?" The man turned around with a tear in his eye and said, "thank you sir, you are the first person who has actually acknowledged me all day." Yes Glenn, it's time we participate in the lives of others and not just be passive observers.