Meditations on Homelessness, part uno

Welcome to my first installment. I'm going to attempt to keep up with posting blogs of this nature based on the experiences I have over the summer. For sure I'm going to also keep up with my normal life, but I want to keep a special place for this.

Without further disclaimers, lets see where I go with this.

I've been at the St. Francis Center for about three weeks now. It was most definetly not what I would have expected. There are always you're stereotypical boozer/druggie homeless folk who have no hope left, but those aren't the kind I people I get to see. Sure, some of them are druggies or whatever but you have to be clean for the day to get in.

Many of the people I interact with are the ones who are trying to get out. That's one of the things St. Francis does to the best of their ability... get people who want to get out, out. That's why they offer so many services beyond the day to day stuff. Many of these folks, if you didn't know any better and saw them on the street wouldn't believe that they are homeless. Many of them got caught in the unfortuate circumstances of health issues, money issues, job loss, what have you. There are also many with mental disabilities that end up out on the street.

Last thursday I got the opportunity to go around Downtown Denver with a homeless guy named Jersey Mike. Through him and some other people (like the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless) I learned more of the ins and outs of homelessness than I get from serving people at St. Francis.

For example, this is a big one, were you aware that Colorado is one of the hardest states to get an ID in, in fact, we might be the hardest period. There is a very very small list of valid forms of identification in order to get an ID. Ironically, one of them is a birth certificate is one, but you typically need an ID to get your birth certificate, thus creating a nice vicious cycle. For those who were born out of state, it is so bad that often it would be easier to go back to their home state, get an ID, and come back using that one to get a CO ID. Isn't that sad?

The rational behind such stringent laws are to keep illegal immegrants from obtaining an ID, but it seems to me that it is causing more problems. There are some people who are simply unable to get an ID, and if you don't have an ID, you can't do anything. Many shelters won't let you in. No chance for a job, or housing, or whathave you. If you lose your ID t could take at least 2 months to get a new one.

Moral of this part of the story, anyone who comes by and says to a homeless person "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get a job, etc" has no idea what they are talking about. Sure, there are those who are unmotivated, but there are enough who are and who are being screwed by the systems we have. It would help if all those self righteous people actually found out the issues instead of blaming them entirely, maybe things might actually change. I would love, and I know all my co-workers would also, to see my site become unneeded.

After walking around Downtown, we went to a soup kitchen. I have not been so greatful for a meal in a long long time. And I was only outside for about... 3 hours. From what I hear, that is one of the attractions of Denver at least. You won't go hungry. You might not be able to get a job or a place to stay or anything like that. But hey, at least you will be well fed.

I'm really impressed by a lot of these guys and gals. There really is a great sence of community and of giving. When you don't have that much, sharing what you do have is not that much of a stretch. I know I have a lot to learn from them in how I live my life. There is also a lot of patience in most of them. Unfortunately this is mainly from being treated like crap in society and been forced to wait, but they take it with a tolerance which would be good for all of us.

That's about all that I can think of for the moment. I do know that my heart is growing for these people, and I have been having a few moments once in awile of compassion. Not pity, but a genuine caring for these people and where they are at. These people need Jesus. I may not be able to intentionally talk to them about him and what he has done in my life, but I can do... well, not really me... God can reveal himself through what I do, and I pray that I can see him in action in their lives.

I hope that I might get to know them better as people. Most of my interactions are only surface level, for a few minutes. I get to exchange pleasantries but not much else. I want to know stories, to know where people are at and how they got there. I want to have something to pray for beyond "God please bless these people."

I don't know if this kind of work is something I would do personally, but I know it is going to be part of my life from now on. This is why I'm glad I have the opportunity to write things down. Perhaps in a few years I can read through this and spark a flame in myself to go out and be involved with revealing more of the Kingdom of God in the here and now.

Pray for me please... and for St. Francis and all the awesome people I work with... and most importantly that things can change, both our society that holds people down, and in the hearts of people who are hardened to the poor of all types, and in the lives of the people I interact with each and every day, that they can see the hope that only God can bring.