I saw this yesterday on Facebook and have been thinking about it while I was driving down Santa Fe today.
This beautiful camp in Modesto looks so nice and sterile right now. So UN-LIVED, uninhabited! After a month it will look somewhat different. When there are no people in a camp it will always look clean, just like a brand-new home will look so inviting.
If you come into my home now, you will find ‘stuff’ everywhere…. laundry, dirty dishes, books in stacks for weeks, dog hair on the ground, dust on the shelves and a lot of ‘stuff’ put away in containers, the garage or where ever there is space.
As American’s we flourish on “stuff” and every homeless person is no different. And so, when they move into the new camp it will not look like that any longer....and really who wants to live in a model home anyway?
You might say “it’s just junk” and they should get rid of it, but reality is - it is their belongings. Just like you and I have things stored that is really ‘junk’ — and we pay good money for our storage.
As we look for ways to help our homeless community, we need to dig deep, build relationships, build community and see what really needs to happen. Is the answer a one size fits all solution, or are our homeless friends’ individuals after all?
No, not everyone wants to be helped, or wants to follow the rules of our society, but let’s get started with the ones who do.
