Michigan Ave. is a great place for shopping. There is money changing hands all over the place, so it also ends up being a great place for homeless people. Some may be keeping pace with people and harassing them. One lady that I have seen before is in a head covering and ducks her face behind the sign she has made. I've even seen a man who was laughing and counting a wad of money while I walked past, although that's by no means normal. When Jess and I passed one homeless person and turned down his request for money, Jess asked me what I think Christians should do about homelessness.
I am a part of Frontlines which is a student group on campus that connects with homeless people around the city. We go out every week to hand out food and make relationships with these people. The point is to talk to the same people every week and work to build a friendship as well as meeting their physical needs. I most likely do have a better perspective on the problem than most people through my limited engagement with their situation, but I was not able to give Jess a good answer. I don't even remember what I said because I sputtered out some lame crap.
I believe that the easiest solution would be for the government to fund a program for every major city to have a place for all homeless people to come to and get rehabilitated in a way. The money would be an important part, but the time would be even more important. That is to say that the resources need to be there, but in the end it would need to be done with much gritty perseverance. It is important to give people a place to sleep and some food, but on top of that we need to ready them for life as well. But that is some crazy pipe dream about what could work if there was a desire to do it.
Aside from the lofty stuff from a person who isn't well-read on the issue of homelessness, but has spoken with some of these people. On a practical level, I think people should give money to homeless people, if it seems right at the time. When I don't have cash ready to go in my pocket, I don't give it. When I don't have any money at all, I don't give it. If a person is really tugging at your heart strings, but you keep coming back to the thought that they will use it to get drunk or high, there is one obvious thing to do: Talk to them. Homeless people are like any other person in that you can tell whether they are genuine or not in one minute of conversation.
Other slightly less practical things are to befriend one of these people or volunteer at a shelter. Christ said that whatever we "do to the least of these", we might as well be doing to Him. Homeless people definitely fall into that category, so we should at the very least be friendly to these people, if not completely their friends. I hope that I'll always be able to have at least one homeless friend. Money can patch a small need, but the ultimate need is hope. One thing I want to stress moving forward with Frontlines is encouraging these people to try and find jobs or any way off of the streets. If we make friends with them and don't try to help them change their lives at all, then we are failing them as friends.
Overall, it's easy to feel totally wrecked by the idea of homeless people. They don't have so much that we do have. It might be callous to say, but homelessness is something that is always going to happen in cities. Or at least until there is no addiction, crime, or poverty. It should make us slightly sad, and there are small things we can do. There are also large things that some of us can do if we feel so inclined. If I can eventually help start or run some sort of homeless shelter, it will bring me unspeakable joy. But right now the only thing I know to do is study for my Christianity in Western Culture midterm... (sighs).
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