Yes, even some states do not allow homeless people to live in the woods. Where do these people go then? How will they get help?
The problem with many homeless people is that they don't know how to function in society. Many were never trained to live in civilization. Some are handicapped or retarded. Many have serious health problems, and many are on drugs or drink alcoholic beverages.
It's not as easy as hollering at someone and telling them to get off their butt. Many of them were never taught how. Many would falter if they were placed in a job, even an easy one.
The whole problem is, how did these people end up like they did? Is there anything we can do to help?
This is a product of a broken society. People who are broken (I'm not talking about broken-hearted), do not know how to live a productive life. They feel safe in the woods where no one is there to threaten them.
Is there the possibility of lazy people being homeless? Absolutely. Many lazy people will end up in the woods. But also, some of the homeless people are simply people who have lost their jobs and cannot pay rent because they have no income. As soon as they find a job again, they will be back on their feet, being productive at work.
How does a person end up homeless anyway? Do they think that is a normal way of life? I don't know all the answers to this question, but I do have a little insight from a book written by David Wilkerson called, 'The Cross and The Switchblade' in which David tells of his journeys to the inner cities of New York and Brooklyn, ministering the Gospel to young men and women who were in the gangs of the streets of New York.
In his book, he partially answers the question, and gives insight into other areas of homelessness. In the 1950s and 60s, teenage boys and girls made up these vicious gangs. The gangs were not purposeless though. They formed basically because the families lived in a tiny tenement room and the families were quite large. The scenario was almost always the same. The dad had no job and there was no money for food. Many times, both mom and dad were drunk. They kicked the children out and lived a hopeless life while they drank themselves to death.
The children were kicked out with no place to live. So, they gathered together and formed these militant gangs. They set boundaries and had rules to which they followed strictly. They punished themselves when they failed.
The children who formed these gangs were looking for love and security. They were looking for companionship. Although there were many gangs, and the gangs worked together well in teamwork, those who made up the gangs were lonely. What they were looking for did not come to them by being a gang member.
These children were displaced. There was no place for them to go to. There was no soft bed (or hard one either) for them to sleep on. When it rained, they would go down the subway. They slept on the benches. There is very little order in their lives, and if they are hungry, they either rob someone for money or somehow find it. Most of the money they got though, went to drugs and liquor. Even though they never had enough money to buy the necessary food, somehow they always were able to buy liquor.
Many ended up on drugs, particularly heroin. In order for them to provide for their addiction, they had to sell drugs. Drug pushing brings in money, but it only goes back to pay for their habit that cannot be broken unless they go to a detox center.
Today, many adults are displaced, much like the gang members of NYC. For whatever reason, they cannot function in society, so they end up living in the woods. That is their territory.
What do they need? The need the same thing everyone else needs-The Gospel. Many of them can actually parrot the Gospel, but do they understand or is there a disconnect?
There are four areas in life that have to be restored. The first is the person's relationship to God. Second is the relationship to one another. Third, is the relationship one has with himself or herself, and fourth is the relationship the person has in society. These are all broken in the life of a homeless person.
The authorities who make decisions concerning banning homeless people do not understand these principles. People used to think (and many still do) that if you have a problem, you are responsible for fixing it. Another way to put this is, since you are now homeless, it is due to something you did or did not do. It is your fault that you are homeless and no one is going to help you.
Many years ago, I took one of my children to a special class, twice a week. After I dropped her off, I would go to the downtown library to do genealogy research. Now I was already aware of the homeless people in that area, and always wanted to help them but never knew how. The first time I went to the library, an older looking homeless man approached me and asked me for something to eat. He wanted to know if I had anything that I could give him. I felt guilty, but I had nothing on me. I was not prepared to meet a homeless person that day. But I did prepare a plate of food after that incident.
I was always running late to my child's class because I had to put a plate of food together and heat it up. Then I covered it up and we got in the car and left. I knew that just giving a plate of food to homeless people really doesn't make it. There had to be more that I could do, so one time I wrote a Bible verse under the paper plate.
The reason I am telling this story is because what happened a couple of months down the road was surprising and disappointing. I was placing the paper plate on a concrete bench by the front door of the library. But one day when I went there, I noticed a sign which said, 'No food allowed in this area'. I know it was because of the paper plates I was leaving there, that some authority put the sign up. They didn't want homeless people that close to the library.
This reminds me of a story told by Ray Comfort. One night, they were out evangelizing, and it was pouring down rain. The group was under a pavilion or some type of outside shelter. There were other people as well, and one of them was a homeless woman who didn't have any front teeth. Ray Comfort made sure the woman had something to eat, when the police showed up. The police ordered her out of there. One of the remarks as to why they ordered her out was, 'she stinks'. Can you imagine this situation? An authority figure who wants to get rid of a homeless woman.
God will not listen to a person who is crying, if that person has turned away from those who are crying and helpless. "Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, Will also cry himself and not be heard." Proverbs 21:13 NASB95. We might be big and prosperous today, but there will come a day when we won't be. How will God treat us then? How did we treat others during our lifetime when we had resources available to help those in need? Did we turn a deaf ear to those who are suffering?
The Gospel is the cure for our brokenness. The Gospel is the cure for the homeless. The question is, what is the best way to reach them and work with them so they can once again fit into society, before homelessness is banned? What are some creative ways we can help?
So, to recap. There are several reasons why people end up homeless. Some are permanently homeless, while others are just misfortunate because of a job loss and will return to home life as soon as they can get enough money to get their home back (or get another place to live in). Many are on drugs or are alcoholics, and cannot get off, or are unwilling to be free from their addictions. Some are mentally ill and are unable to work. There are even some homeless people who have lived in the woods most of their lives, and they don't seem to want change.
There are shelters for homeless people which can be helpful. These are good for people who are just out of a job and have lost their homes. They are also good for people who are displaced as many of these shelters offer classes and career training opportunities. That still doesn't answer the problem of those who can't work or don't know how to function in society. Where do we go from here to help these people? That is the question at hand.
Society can help those who are able to work. Rehabilitation classes can be effective. But for those who were either kicked out of their homes, or have no living relatives who can house them, what can we do? What do you think?
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