Eek! A Homeless!

Living in Metro Detroit, having worked in Downtown Detroit and currently working in Pontiac, Michigan, I have had plenty of experience with homeless people, poor people asking for money and panhandlers. The amount of pure, unabashed chastising I have gotten for giving to others, ranges somewhere in the infinity range, as it will probably continue to occur. Apparently there is just no right way to feed someone, but I don't buy that (no pun intended). There are a series of experiences I would like to share that may alleviate some of  the "protection" people feel they need to dish out whenever I'm asked for money...or anything for that matter.

Let me first start out my admitting I am a grade A sucker. If someone says they need money for the bus, I tend to believe them. Do I give them money? No, not always, but I do believe they need money for the bus and not heroine or something. That being said if someone is asking for a little spare cash for some food, that is different. I would also like to start out with another disclaimer: not all people begging are homeless. For example, this dude who asks for money in Downtown Royal Oak, is my neighbor, he has a home, but I think many think he is homeless. I think this is an important distinction to make. When someone comes up to me and asks me for money, I don't just assume they are homeless, but I do assume they are in need, my neighbor most certainly is.

Another important thing to consider is that 842,000 adults and children are homeless in a given week. This means that sometimes a homeless person will be truly homeless one moment, have additional resources the next, but could go right back to being homeless and the number will continue to fluctuate. This is another important disclaimer because we need to acknowledge the vast amount of homeless in America, but we don't necessarily need to isolate them from the poorest population as though they are separate problems that are not interconnected.

Anyway here's an argument I hear all the time: the ole' teach a man to fish axiom. You don't want to make begging more lucrative and working less lucrative. I do think it is important to give people jobs, but you can't just pick up a homeless man or woman and put them in a factory to start working, that era is dead (well, it moved to China and other high producing countries, but that's a separate blog post). If you have the skills and resources to pick up, provide transportation and job training as well as a job to a homeless person, then by all means please do it. I personally don't have this capacity, but I do have the ability to help others with their day to day burden of life.

For example; Uncle DD frequently stops into the climbing gym I work at in Pontiac. Usually we give him a gigantic bag of returnables to go make the deposit on. Sometimes he asked for money, but mostly he wants pizza, so we'll buy him some every so often. DD has been coming in for as long as the gym has been in existence. I've talked to him, given him rides places, fixed up his bike and bought him pizza. DD is only homeless sometimes, but upon talking to him, I think he resents the word homeless, which you know...makes sense. One day he comes in and asks for bottles, I go downstairs and grab some, when I come back up he's talking to someone. She's trying to give him the phone number for an organization that can help, she's telling him it doesn't matter what his story is because he can get help regardless and she's handing him a brochure. I give him the bottles, he also asks for a winter hat and I give him one of mine. That night, the woman he spoke to told me that she knows I think I'm doing good, but that he needs real help, not hand outs. I don't necessarily disagree, but I gave him a hat and a means of making some money for his kids, that I know he has because I've built a relationship with him. She gave him a phone number and this idea that his story doesn't matter. I'm not saying I helped more, but I did make sure that he doesn't have to buy a hat, that he doesn't have to worry about food that night and I think that is important. For the record, I've helped DD find housing programs as well, when he wanted it.

I'm not trying to ride my high horse through Pontiac. I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, but believe it or not, homeless people are our neighbors, they are members in our community. Get to know someone you see on the street everyday. Afraid your money will be spent on drugs? Why don't you get to know someone, then you'll know if they have a drug problem. All it takes is an acknowledgment of what kind of help should be given, which only takes one conversation, which is not necessarily that hard. Sometimes you might not be able to give money, ask if you can help in a different way, when you can't do that just give your condolences and walk on. But if you can spare the time to talk, I can promise that it will be far more well spent than one dollar. So back off, I'll do it my way, you do it yours. I can promise you my moral fiber and I do not need your help, they do.

Thanks for Listening,
Kyle