“I can’t always open doors, but I can get you up to the door. We can knock, we can bang on it, we may be able to tear it down,” stated West Virginia Senator John Unger (D). He appeared concerned about the lack of a cold weather shelter in Martinsburg.

“We only have three months. Everybody is predicting it is going to be severe weather. I can not, I mean I don’t know how anybody can sleep thinking that people are out there stranded with no place to go,” he added.

When pressed about building codes, kitchens, and the cost and time restraint in getting a building up to local code, he had an answer. “You can get the Salvation Army to get in there to give food or the Red Cross to pass out food, and you wouldn’t necessarily need a kitchen or anything. They’ll bring those vans up and park it and do a mass care. And we could pass legislation that says that at a certain time, when the weather drops at a certain level or there’s some type of storm that occurs that the building code could be waived. We could work on getting legislation passed that would allow them to exempt the building code aspect under severe conditions of weather in order to get people out of it.”

“To get people out of it,” now there is an encouraging idea. What do we need to do to make a difference in a life or even save a life? Each year some people freeze to death for lack of shelter. It’s easy to hold a meeting inside a nice clean office, but we all don’t have such a luxury of that office or even a cup of coffee. It is truly a matter of life and death.

In a perfect world we could build shelters, offer wrap-around programs, and complete mental heath services. However we don’t live in a perfect world and time is of the essence right now. This issue is so time-critical that we will need Senators like John Unger to think “out of the box” and come up with short term, emergency housing when the temperature drops below freezing. Currently many cities already have them. Some readers may think that this service is offered everywhere. Unfortunately it is not.

When the subject of committees and mission statements came up, Senator Unger related a story of Mother Teresa. “I really like Mother Teresa’s approach. Mother Teresa saw a child in the street and she picked it up and started caring for the child and others started seeing that. So often we get wrapped up in mission statements.”

Time is running out across the nation for cold weather shelters to be established. Some people, like John Moses, whom we have reported on in the past have moved ahead and built it. “Sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” the Senator stated.

While some organizations are writing mission statements and holding endless meetings, others like Senator Unger, John Moses, and Father Lawrence are making a difference. What will you do?

8.17.10
DJ McCoy

Kanani Kekahaua’s five kids are like most kids…they’re trying to ride into a bright future. But they’re also unlike most other kids, because they were homeless. Kanani explains how it happened. “I lost my job and it snowballed from there. You never think it will happen to you. I don’t drink, I don’t use drugs, and it’s just unfortunate it happened to me and my five children.”

Suncoast article

Across the US the face of homelessness is changing daily. Children and families are joining the ranks of the substance abusers and mentally disordered. A place in society that was reserved for those who “deserved” their unfortunate position is becoming less black and white. While we have certainly made clear that all homeless individuals, regardless of circumstance, deserve a helping hand; this is a point of contention for some. It seems to muster more support for the homeless, one must share the stories of the individuals without “flaws” who find themselves in a tough spot. Perhaps then, something positive can come out of the recent change in the homeless population.

In the article previously linked, Pam Ducket, the program director of the Faith Program run by the Salvation Army, stated:

“80% of all homeless in Sarasota County are children and families. They are the hidden face of homeless.”

While Sarasota County, Florida, certainly holds a higher percentage of homeless children and families than the national average, families with children are among the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. According to a 2007 survey conducted by the National Coalition for the Homeless, homeless families with children make up approximately 23% of the homeless population. In 3 years time those numbers are undoubtedly on the rise.

Whether you can identify personally with the man, woman, or child on the street is not important. Whether you can acknowledge that a fellow human being is in need is important. Regardless of what pulls at the collective heart-strings of the American people, it is long past time that we stand up and help our fellow man.

2/25/2010
R. Hardy