I am a human!
I ran into one of my homeless friends. He was sitting in a coffee shop and we got to talk for a moment. Q is a good man, who worked many years of his life, but then lost his job and went into a depression that he could not get out of. He lived with his mom who kicked him out when he did not want to move
forward. A small crime brought him to do community service with us about 15 years ago, and since then he has been living on the streets of Merced. He is a good man, and when he is not high or drunk, we can
have really good conversations. But he is also a broken man, the years of homelessness have taken a toll
on him. He lost most many of his teeth, he has sores, his system is starting to fail him. When I saw him, he actually looked good and I asked him, (probably for the 50th time) if we was ready to
move forward and get some help, and he was actually open to it. He knows where to go, New Directions
is the starting place, he also could go to the Navigation Center, although there are rules he has to follow, and he does not always like that. Anyway Q knows what to do to get the help he needs. 15 years is a long time on the street, and I am not sure if he can adjust to 'normal' life again, but the options are
there. My prayer is, that he will take the first step.
Sometimes people wonder what makes people homeless and there are so many different stories. In my
case it was abusive family situations, in other cases it is the loss of a job, a medical condition that changed a way of life, trauma, that was difficult to deal with. Every homeless person has a story and nobody just wanted to be homeless or wanted to start doing drugs. Merced has a variety of services to
help our unhoused community members, but what they need more than anything, is a smile, an
acknowledgement of their humanity, a conversation that has no strings attached. They (like all of us) need community. Q is a human being, and while I get frustrated by his lack of forward movement, I want to support him on his journey and be there for when he is ready to move forward. He is human!
What can you and I do to help our homeless community? Next week is the yearly homeless count, a point in time where all unhoused people in the United States are being counted. Last year the number in
California went up by almost 20%, that is heart breaking, especially since many of them are older people
who cannot afford rent, and youth that have aged out of foster care. As a community we need to advocate for affordable housing, and pathways for reentry. But we also need to love people were they
are. We cannot fix a person, and while housing is a vital part to help people, more than that they need community, they need support in all aspects of life. So, the next time you see a homeless person, look them in the eyes, acknowledge their dignity, and be present for the moment you encounter them. Q has been my friend for 15 years despite his choices, and when he is ready I will help him with whatever he
needs, but until he is ready, I will continue to see him. Because and he and I are both human.