| | I haven't lived in Knoxville for very long, but something I was aware of almost immediately is the seemingly large number of homeless people in this town. I don't know if there are more here than is usual, but it would look that way, especially if you were to walk or drive through the Gay / Jackson block of downtown. Of course, that's the block which houses a large homeless shelter and, I presume, a soup kitchen. The people in need of shelter and food generally don't stray far from this block, and it shows. Once I was driving past the shelter at dusk, and there was a line of people down the sidewalk and wrapped around the corner of the building. I know Knoxville isn't a small town, and that homelessness is fierce statistic which is ever-present, but the number of people I see huddled on street corners seems disproportionate.
Now, I've taken classes on sociology, urban missiology, etc., so I'm as aware as most of the prevailing reasons and causes of homelessness. I realize that many are homeless due to irresponsible decisions, drug addictions, etc. A very high percentage of homeless people have some form of mental illness. These causes are sometimes combatable, and I've met more than a couple people who have been homeless at one or several points in their lives, and who are now relatively stable and self-supporting.
What I don't understand is why I, and many others, have never given much thought to the epidemic that is homelessness in America. Sure, there are people who are inevitably going to end up on the streets due only to their reckless lifestyles, but there are entirely too many living in tents and cardboard boxes who don't deserve it. There are two thing which recently prodded me to think about the subject.
The first is this: My girlfriend teaches English as a Second Language to elementary students whose families have immigrated from several countries, mostly eastern Europe and Africa. The question arose one day of whether people ever gave money to the poor, and one of the Russian girls responded, "We gave money to the poor in my country, but we don't do it here because there are no poor people in America." I thought to myself, well, according to Russian standards, she's probably right. Ponder that for what it's worth.
The second is this: I attend church at Knoxville Life Church, or KnoxLife. It's located in the Old City, near the homeless shelter. We have a very nice man who's recently joined us on Sunday mornings, I'll call him Dean, and he happens to be homeless. He dresses well enough, he's clean, and very polite. I've never once heard him approach anyone for help or assistance. I can't say I know him well enough to know why he's homeless (but I intend on finding out). What bothers me is this: while walking through church this morning when everyone was still mingling, I walk past Dean and another man, and I overhear their conversation. The one man is relatively new, introduces himself, and asks Dean about himself. Dean responds, "My name's Dean. I'm a homeless guy." My heart immediately sank. I mean, what the hell, man? How long do you have to be homeless before it becomes a part of your self-identity? When someone asks who you are, you no longer say, "Oh, I'm a student / lawyer / teacher / plumber...", or even "Oh, I've been laid off, times are hard, etc.", to just "Oh, I'm a nobody. I have a name and a cardboard box." What does that do to a person's self-esteem? It's just mind-boggling to me. I can't get my mind around it.
So, I've set a mission for myself. Over the next several weeks, or possibly year, I want to learn more about homelessness, and, more specifically, Dean. What creates a man like that? How does he look at his own future? I want to understand these things so that I might one day be able to help people like Dean. I feel too many people just write off the homeless as a chronic symptom that can't be helped. They ignore the problem and hope that someone else tackles it to make it go away. I've got news for those people:
Homelessness isn't going away.
I'm going to learn something about this, and by God, I'm going to do something. And if I don't accomplish anything, I'll rest easier knowing I tried. How many of you have the ability to help one innocent person on the street? How many of you do anything about it?
  
James 4:17 (New International Version) 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
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| | Posted 4/26/2009 10:37 PM - 33 Views - 8 eProps - 6 comments
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