Homeless men and women are no less human than everyone else. We should show them compassion and kindness, not try to starve them out of existence.
By Stacy Reger
Contributing Writer
This semester, I started volunteering at the Daybreak Center, a shelter for mentally ill homeless women in Santa Monica. I’ve discovered stereotypes I didn’t even realize I had about people, and have had the opportunity to know some amazing women in the process of shattering every one of those stereotypes. In these past two months, I have learned more about myself and others than I had any idea I could.
The homeless are often labeled unfairly, without even a conscious thought. I can’t count the times I’ve seen a homeless man and looked away, assuming he was psychotic, or a drug addict, or worse — a con artist. Working with the ladies at Daybreak has forever altered my view of the homeless.
Most of the women I see at the shelter are so normal I wouldn’t glance twice if we met on the street. Most have experienced pain I cannot even imagine — with psychological disorders like Bipolar and severe depression — but as I’ve listened to each story, I’ve realized that these women are me, they are my family, they are my friends.
There is no such thing as “Us and Them.” These are not crazy drug addicts as I used to believe, but they are people living their lives, just as I am living my own. Through the reality of their experiences and willingness to give of what little they have, I have grown not only to better understand, but to love them and appreciate how much they have to offer the world.
The city of Santa Monica doesn’t seem to share this viewpoint, and in fact appears to view the homeless as a faceless enemy scaring away the normal, economy-boosting shoppers. On Oct. 22, the Santa Monica City Council passed an ordinance that makes it absurdly difficult for people to distribute food to people in public areas, such as a park. This will minimally effect the members of the City Council, and will probably not effect you at all.
So what’s the point?
The point is that homelessness is not faceless, and they could be every single one of us, if our lives went that way. A majority of Americans are just a paycheck away from being homeless, and anything can happen. As a volunteer at Daybreak, I have seen the reactions of people whose lives will be profoundly effected by this law.
Last week at the shelter, a sweet old woman who could be my grandmother asked if she could put some leftovers from dinner in a plastic bag so she could eat the next day.
What would have happened if there weren’t leftovers? I’ve heard countless women make comments upon arriving for dinner at the shelter about how hungry they are, and how they haven’t eaten all day. This is a daily struggle for them, and the law will only make it harder for them to live and be healthy.
Through all the women have taught and shared with me, I emerge with this question: Where is the compassion? The council’s attitude shows a startling coldness. Their thinking appears somewhere along the lines of, “if we don’t feed them, they’ll go away.” It breaks my heart to see the homeless treated as animals. We are talking about people, who need to eat and feel cared for just like anyone else.
Depriving people of food will not solve the problem, it can only intensify the level of need in Santa Monica’s homeless.
It may seem like we are powerless to change this situation, but the truth is that our small actions can contribute largely to improving someone’s life. I urge you to stop next time you see a homeless person, and ask how they are, or even ask if you can buy them a meal regardless of Santa Monica’s law.
Chances are you’ll discover that you see a lot of yourself in the person, and your changed thinking can change lives for the better.
November 07, 2002