There is a program in this country called 100,000 Homes. It's goal is to house 100,000 homeless people who would otherwise still be homeless. Many have health issues, many are alcoholics or addicts. Many of them, once housed, are now able to turn their lives around and make something better for themselves. This would not be possible if they didn't receive a step up.
Note that I said a "step up." A step up is different from a hand out. When a person has nothing but the clothes on their backs, a step up is that gentle boost they need to begin the process of bettering themselves. It restores their God given right of dignity and allows them to mainstream themselves into society once again.
Through the 100,000 Homes campaign, more
than 83,000 chronically homeless individuals have already been connected
with apartments. And that number is growing every day. The formerly homeless now have a solid starting point to get back on their
feet, along with a connection to any supportive services that they want
or need — from addiction counseling and medical services to budgeting
tools and more.
Is there anyone who feels this is somehow "wrong?" Why just give someone something? Won't they take advantage of it? It is like an issue I have posted about previously, that is, the "wet houses" that care for alcoholics who, after many stints in rehab, AA and every treatment known, still drink. They can't quit and so are provided a safe place to live--and die--with dignity. I think of so many of us who take our lives and everything in it for granted. Our homes, our cars, our jobs...the little luxuries that we come to expect....are huge luxuries for others. Is it so wrong to deny someone the right to a safe place to live, of having that second chance to perhaps get it right in their world? We wouldn't dream of denying ourselves, would we? As Becky Kanis, the director of 100,000 Homes has said, "There is something that’s really dehumanizing about living on the
streets in so many ways. And then, really, in a matter of days, from
having housing, the physical transformation is almost immediate. And I don’t think that there’s anybody, once they see that, that
would say, ‘Well, let’s put them back on the streets again.'"
I think of how Jesus admonishes us time and again to give up the extras that we have, to give to others who have nothing. Our global world is quickly shrinking, we are so much more aware today of others who have nothing and yet--we also DO nothing! Or else it is done for that tax break you are able to have come April. Or maybe you felt guilted into doing good by a sermon at church, or by a job wage donation taken out of your weekly paycheck. So long as you don't actually have to DO anything, maybe in this case, it is OK. But what is in your heart, really? Because that is where God resides....what does He see?
How about getting in the trenches with someone who needs you... How often do you embrace a person in need? We all have 168 hours per week....it shouldn't be that hard to find a need and fulfill it.
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