Homeless, not Heartless

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2007/04/post_4.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Homeless, not Heartless

Two things worried me one recent Thursday evening as I entered the United Methodist church in Burke, a suburb in northern Virginia.

I went there to volunteer as a nightshift helper in a one-week program to shelter about fifty homeless people from the winter cold.

First, I had always avoided the homeless as I have seen their numbers gradually increasing in downtown Washington where I started working 27 years ago. I have seen them sleeping on the sidewalks, pushing their belongings in grocery carts, panhandling, shouting and cursing loudly.

Second, not being a member of the church and volunteering for the first time there, I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle myself.

Nevertheless, living for all these years in Burke, I have taken my three children to mosques, churches, synagogues, Buddhist and Hindu temples. Wherever we went we were welcomed.

That's why I took it in stride when a homeless person at this Methodist church asked me, upon reading my first name on my name tag: “What is a Mohammad doing in a church?” A volunteer lady was more graceful when she commented: "I didn't know Mohammad is also a Christian name."

When I entered the church, I couldn't tell who was the volunteer and who was the homeless person because most of the homeless looked like ordinary people -- until I noticed that only the volunteers and Fairfax County officials (who coordinated the shelter program) had name tags.

I was surprised to learn that about half the homeless there had jobs, but apparently the jobs didn’t pay enough to cover their rents and other expenses.

I also was surprised to see that most of the homeless there were white. There were no children, but there were women (one pregnant); a few apparently married couples (we were not supposed to ask); two in wheelchairs; a few Latinos, and an Asian couple who looked like any other college boy and girl.

During my night shift, volunteers took turns sleeping so that at least two of us were awake at all times. The area was monitored every 30 minutes, in pairs. Bathrooms were checked all the time (illicit drug use?) and cleaned promptly (there were lots of “accidents”).

We were advised to have “a sense of humor, patience, justice, equity and compassionate.” Some of the homeless didn’t want to talk, others did.

One, noticing my curious questions, shot back: “Hey, I am a respectable and dignified man.” He added, “Have you heard of the expression ‘a paycheck away from being a homeless’? That was what happened to me.”

One loudly complained about another homeless: “He is making fun of me for being gay.”

One made a request: “My shoes smell. Could you spray them without spraying me?”

One was self-conscious and declared: “I have a job, but it is the place to sleep in that I don’t have.”

Another said: “I have been a homeless for only one month.”

A woman begged: “I need to call my children right now. I missed them.”

One said he lost his shoe laces and asked for laces.

A Latino tried to explain something in English, but no one could understand him. When another homeless Latino was asked to translate, he said he was scared by the policeman who came to the church to check.

After I helped clean the bathroom, took trash bags to the outside dump, brought sleeping bags to the large sleeping hall (usually the cafeteria), gave one person a chair to use as a night stand, helped another store his shopping cart, I sat down on a chair in one corner of the hall.

I watched as the homeless arranged their sleeping bags and laid down to sleep. Some men and women kissed each other goodnight. The Asian couple laid close to each other. The lights were dimmed and quietness prevailed.

I thought about the homeless who earlier told me about “one paycheck away from being homeless.” That's when I got scared. Could it be me?

Around midnight, I went to a small room assigned as a chapel for the homeless and the volunteers, sat on a chair for few minutes, stared at the flickering candle and tried to calm myself.

Mohammad Ali Salih is a Washington correspondent for London-based “Asharq Alawsat,” an international Arabic daily newspaper, and other Arabic publications.

Posted by Mohammad Ali Salih on April 3, 2007 9:45 AM
Comments (8)
Norrie Hoyt:

All I can offer in response to Mohammad's essay is Robinson Jeffers' 1926 poem, "Shine, Perishing Republic."

This is America almost 100 years after the poem was published.

Shine, Perishing Republic

While this America settles in the mould of its vulgarity, heavily thickening
to empire,
And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass, pops and sighs out, and the
mass hardens,
I sadly smiling remember that the flower fades to make fruit, the fruit rots
to make earth.
Out of the mother; and through the spring exultances, ripeness and decadence;
and home to the mother.

You making haste, haste on decay: not blameworthy; life is good, be it
stubbornly long or suddenly
A mortal splendor: meteors are not needed less than mountains:
shine, perishing republic.
But for my children, I would have them keep their distance from the
thickening center; corruption
Never has been compulsory, when the cities lie at the monster's feet there
are left the mountains.

And boys, be in nothing so moderate as in love of man, a clever servant,
insufferable master.
There is the trap that catches noblest spirits, that caught -- they say --
God, when he walked on earth.

-- Robinson Jeffers

Posted April 3, 2007 10:55 AM
Anonymous:

Life as you know it can be changed so quickly.

My family was in an upper-middle class area; both my husband and I working, 2 kids, 2 cars, big house, a dog, a camper, 2 motorcycles, vacations, income over 120k combined. Then my husband was accused of a crime that he didn't commit. Now we live in a cramped apartment in a different state. He can't get a job because he has a court case pending (his job let him go because they didn't want to deal with any controversy). I have a job that pays 35k (which is half what I used to get paid), but it's a lot less once taxes and health insurance come out. We sold the motorcycles and the house. We don't know if my husband will be going to jail for a crime that he didn't commit. We shop for clothes at the Goodwill and food at Aldi. I HAVE to work overtime to make ends meet, but they won't allow me to work more than a couple of hours over per week. There is no extra to put into savings or 401k. Summer is almost here, but I can't afford summer camp for the kids, so I will be forced to leave them at home alone if my husband is not here.

Of course, we still have what is most important. We have our family. We have our health (although that does tend to suffer under the stress of the situation - my husband and I are taking a whole bunch of expensive medications to prove that). We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. Our kids are in school and I finally found a job. But I know better now that any of these things can change at any time too.

Life, your life, can change without warning. Don't judge others by the circumstances that they are in; sometimes they did not put themselves there.

Posted April 3, 2007 11:40 AM
Anonymous:

what you have described as a hardship is how a major portion of the population is living- (except you still have 2 cars, a motorcycle and health insurance) so actually youre better off than alot of people-

i have been homeless 4 times in my life-
each time because i just couldnt afford to pay the rent-
the only debt i have is i owe some money for 2 gas bills- ive never had a credit card, and have always tried to live honestly within my means-

i have never had health care in my life
never been to an eye doctor though i wear drug store glasses that probably arent the right strength

been to the dentist twice- the last time to have two big molars form the top whic makes it hard to eat but ive adapted

when i knew homelessness was iminent i responsibly gave away everything i owned each time- cleaned my apartment conscientiously, and vacated to a shelter-

at one shelter i lived at i worked 2 blocks away at a major bank and no one ever had any idea-
my whole life revolved around that job. \
get to the shelter, wait in line to go to the bathroom, wait in line to take a shower (10 minutes only and if you take 11 people scream at you or even come in and drag you out, its happened) wait in line to eat, wait inline to iron my clothes for the next day (cant do ironing in advance- theres no place to put ironed clothes to store) go get a mat and put my purse under my pillow or next to my stomach (even go to the bathroom with my purse- purse goes everywhere with you) and try to sleep in a room with 80 other women many whom snore, or have night terrors, or just talk all night, never a moment of quiet) wake up at 5am and wait to go to the bathroom, wait to use the sink to brush teeth and wash- try to filter the constant chatter out-go to work-

and since everyone has to leave during the day- from 6am to 6pm- ( i get off work and have to wait outside - cant go home and relax- nowhere to go- sit on the steps and wait-

and when i got sick, id go to work because the alternative was to stay outside all day- which makes one sicker, doesnt it?

and that as not the worst place- that was the best homeless experience-

but through it all my prayers never changed- and i appreciated that it wasnt worse and didnt lament for what could be better-

there are always those much worse off than you , and those doing better-

and dont judge others at all-
it doesnt matter if they 'put themselves there' or not- all are deserving of our compassion and everything in life is a test to bring out our higher natures and hone our compassion to a fine point-

since your husband has some time on his hands, he should do some volunteer work at a shelter like the good mr salih here,

every shelter i stayed at i did volunteer work at-
the last one, gave me a job for 40 hours a week and i still added 30 hours a week of volunteer time onto that (all at minimum wage of course- which half of that went to pay back the food stamp supplements) 300 dollars a month for a 70 hour a week work week-

and there are boys and girls clubs for your kids, and they could also learn a little about civic responsibility-

and look around at your neighbors too- youll find that most of them are probably used to their living conditions and might be surprised to see that some of them are even grateful for their cramped apartments-

and i can imagine that you dont glaze over your eyes when you pass a homeless person any more but even slip them a dollar sometimes?

maybe not.

but you can at least say this prayer-
there but for the grace of god go i


Posted April 3, 2007 1:37 PM
Anonymous:

To Anonymous who has been homeless,

I agree with you completely. My point was not to compare myself with people who are homeless, which is why I included in my comments all of the things that I still have; but to let people know how quickly their lives can change. People think that a person has to be a drunk, or drug user, or all-around loser to end up homeless; they don't realize that it just isn't that way these days.

To comment on the rest of your post; my husband actually does volunteer at a homeless shelter now, and we gave a LOT of our things to them when we moved here because we had nowhere to keep it in our apartment. As far as helping out homeless or the down-and-out, it's something that I've just always done, so that has never changed. I have always had a heart for helping others. I just have a hard time having to ask for it myself.

Posted April 3, 2007 2:17 PM
POSTED April 3, 2007 9:45 AM
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