Posted by muffled on September 11, 2007, at 20:00:08
In reply to Re: Sad, some blame people for being homeless, posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on September 11, 2007, at 13:35:15
That was wonderfully done!
The thing that struck me was the universality of it.
It so could have been my city, though I didn't recognize what faces I saw, they look physically just the same.
Sorta sad and frightening that this could be so much the same.
Just one word of warning is that you goto be REAL careful cuz some will get very upset if you take their pic w/o asking. Tho its seesm you have been careful.
And it is SO cool to talk to these people. I encourage all to do so with care. There are educated people out there and mothers, brothers, pastors, you name it...but there they are...but for the grace go I...
Not only is it mental health and addictions, its just health probs have made some people unable to work...disability doesn't cover much....head injuries, cancer, car accidents.....there are MANY reasons people are out there.
And I hate the way they are just all called a homogenized, "homeless", yes they are homeless, but for so MANY different reasons, and there needs to be more than one approach to this problem as well.
But day to day, if you want to help. You can just talk to them, pass out a smoke randomly (never do it regularly or its 'expected' and there's anger when nones forthcomming....)Or even just look at a person and smile.
I remember these stickers we had as a young person, they said 'smile, its free!'.
There's also usu lots of volunteer opportunities at soup kitchens, drop in centers, food banks etc...
So no need to feel utterly helpless....
Thanks for this.
M
poster:muffled
thread:781940
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20070827/msgs/782314.html