Solving Homelessness

 

Homelessness carries a certain type of stigma and we shy away from anything that causes us to cringe; we also feel powerless to solve this complex situation even if we feel like we are experts on any issue.  We like to believe we are generous and we like to feel good about ourselves, so at least if we are not negative about the homeless maybe we can congratulate ourselves on being nice, but being nice requires action since attitude alone is insufficient.

Do we really want a tent-city sprouting up like a patch of weeds in a sidewalk crack in our downtown?  Are there homeless people choosing to be homeless, can they really-truly be helped with their drug addictions or mental health issues or multitude of other struggles, and what will we do with the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:34-46? 

We can all agree that a safer, cleaner, healthier Kingsport is best for us all.  But, is there even a solution that we can all agree on, get on board with, and cooperate with?      

It’s convenient to have someone to point to and blame and then have someone to look to who can fix the problems but who is responsible for the homeless dilemma or for solving it?  Housing costs money, but it’s hard to find employment without a drivers license or an address to write down on your application.  Can the city simply throw money at the problem to solve it or is this a spiritual matter for the church to resolve?  

It is a lose-lose situation from the looks of it on social media; any observations are deemed judgmental and callous, any suggestions are shot down as pipe dreams and unrealistic.  The Monarchs of the monitor, the Knights of the keyboards, the brave warriors of social media who spew their worthless wealth of wisdom from the comfort of their couches or from their exalted porcelain thrones while mindlessly scrolling through their phones, they like to wound with words and only seem to know how to criticize and complain, to shame and to blame, while never ever lifting a finger to fix the problems they point out so freely in their fault finding crusades.  

Twice a year the homeless population is on everyone’s radar -- when the weather warms up and transient people seem everywhere all at once and then again when the weather turns cold.  As the flowers bloom many complain about the homeless people, what a nuisance and eyesore they are, how they smell, they look shabby, they are downtrodden, but then as the leaves turn and the first frost hits suddenly our community gains a little compassion and we feel obligated to shelter our less fortunate. 

Unless you have spent extensive time with the homeless, your opinion is uninformed and it carries very little credibility -- we need to stop feeling pressured by uninvolved citizens who try to silence you on social media who only know how to manipulate feelings but who have never applied any elbow grease to solve the homeless situation.  We can either continue to enable or we can begin to equip the homeless -- if you want to be part of the solution, call and offer to help serve, donate, or participate with one of the many organizations already at work on this but please do your due diligence and make sure their values and longterm goals align with yours.