Homeless, hopeless, where can they go?I had the experience of sitting in the Catholic Diocese Center for the Homeless waiting room in Richmond, VA for an hour last week. It was one of the saddest experiences of my life. I talked to a woman who had 2 jobs and 2 kids in school and was being evicted from her 1 yr govt. apt struggling to make ends meet and just keep her children in their school. A young woman sat down in tears who was running from an abusive relationship. There was no one there to comfort her.... "just wait over there, we'll have someone with you in a minute." I went over to her and held her and asked if I could pray for her, to which she said yes. I watched people come and go, dressed in as much as they could put on (including a snow suit in 80 degree weather) just so they didn't have to carry it with all their other belongings stuffed into backpacks or shopping bags. I did look into their faces. I offered a smile, but most did not have one to return. I did everything I could not to bawl as I sat, a helpless witness to the hopeless few I encountered.
I was almost relieved when I was called back into the office to accompany my passenger. I talked to a counselor about options for the person I was with. The thing is..... the options are few. Shelters with cots that move from church to church every week. You can only be in the building from dinner to morning. You have to re-apply every week hoping to get back in, not knowing where you will be. It makes a job search nearly impossible. Housing waiting lists that are over a year long. How parents do this with children in school (or not) I just don't know. I don't have the answers.... and neither do they. Not the homeless, and not the shelters. They do as much as they can with the few resources they are given to work with.
It makes little difference what got you to this point in life once you have reached it. They way out is long and hard, and I can see why so many give up and seek ways to deaden the pain. These people are you and me..... on hard, hard times. Help when and where you can. Even if it's just to offer a hug or a prayer. You could be helping my loved one and not even know it. I could be helping yours.......
Blessings,
Sandy
PS: Please visit this link and watch family walk right on by their own loved ones posed as homeless. This is how immune to them or afraid of them we have become. http://viraljuice.com/best-of-the-interweb/will-this-woman-notice-her-homeless-family-watch-with-tissue/