Coming Together

The Creative Heart Is Never Homeless

I am presently living in a homeless shelter. Yep, it came down to that and I am very fortunate to have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in - Praise Jesus!

There are 9 women in the shelter and we are given 90 days to stay there. With the help of the shelter's caseworkers, we have to commit to a daily search to find permanent housing. Most low income permanent housing is a 3 to 7 year wait and the homeless usually end up in "transitional housing", which can give a resident a full year of shelter and help. It's a daily commitment of making calls and filling out applications - by no means is being in a shelter relaxing and worry-free. Not everyone in the shelters find somewhere to go by the time their 90 days is up, landing them back on the streets. Being homeless is a daunting trial of reaching inside the weary soul and extracting faith from hopelessness.

Amazing

The women I have met and other homeless people I heard and read about are nothing short of amazing.

They break the stereotypical mold of the dirty, disheveled alcohol/drug addicted street bum, shining bright with intelligence, life experience and creativity. They are college graduates, past business owners, artists, musicians, writers, educators and tireless volunteers of the community.

For many of the homeless searching out shelters it is the first time they have ever been faced with not having a place to call home and they are scared, depressed, confused and even angry. Suddenly faced with a need so basic, the homeless discover real quick that society reveres their plight as nothing more than an annoyance and find themselves labeled as being "lazy", "irresponsible" and "uneducated". Granted there is a population of homeless folks that are crippled because of alcohol/drug addiction and mental illness and unfortunately it's that population of homeless that society has the most run in's with. I'm not going to walk up to you outside a grocery store and ask for money. As a matter of fact if you were to see me get out of  my car in the grocery store parking lot next to yours or stand behind you in the check-out line it would never even occur to you that I'm a homeless person. But I am!  

Sad thing is when people don't know I'm homeless they are quick to welcome me into conversation and even into their busy world but as soon as they find out I'm homeless I become someone they don't want to break bread with or have around their children. 

It's attitudes and assumptions like these that I want to see change and change SOON!

Building Bridges

I have an idea and in the next few days I'll be sharing here and exploring what I am hoping to make happen.

I have met so many wonderful, creative and intelligent people that it just so happens are also homeless and I want society to meet them. I also so want to introduce the idea of the homeless having an opportunity to shine and step up from the dark shadows of the homeless streets and into the light of having hope.