There are three homeless men and women that are always on my mind. I know them well, I see them downtown almost daily. You probably do too. All three are in their 50s and 60s — senior citizens who are not that healthy.
The streets are hard, they wear on you. And there are cold months ahead. These elderly neighbors of ours are barely making it. You may see them, you may exchange a smile with them. They are good people.
But they’re out here. Every. Day.
Suffering, trying to hold on. They are bleeding…but there’s no blood. Their physical signs are not good at all. They are sinking. They are drowning. A little bit, every day.
And with all the resources in this city, no one is able to lift them up. No one is able to pull them up.
So, life goes on.
Last year we honored the lives of 53 people on Homeless Persons Memorial Day. Fifty-three people whose lives were cut short by homelessness. I pray to God and to Jesus that these three friends of mine do not join them.
We can stop this! We MUST stop this!
I am trying my very best to understand how, in the names of God and Jesus, and in the richest and greatest country in the world, CAN THIS EXIST?
All the churches, the government agencies and the corporate entities… All the unions, the academic institutions, the nonprofits…. All the not-for-profits, the philanthropic foundations, and the social scientists…
Can none of them do anything?
How do people so obviously slip through the cracks? In this day and age, here, how can we watch people die?
Every. Day.
