life in city
Ron Shock according to a study by pbs there are somewhere between 2.3 and 3.5 homeless people in america. (3 million would be TEN PERCENT OF OUR TOTAL POPULATION!!!). according to a 2009 study on any given day 200,000 veterans are homeless. to think that 200k of men and women who served their country, risked their lives, left their families behing to go fight one of our non-stop wars in some far away place are now living in the streets is a national disgrace.
i have a very dear friend who is quite active in social work (especially battered women) and has a lot of contact with the homeless and the people who work with them. i asked her what percentage of the homeless are there because of mental problems and she said probably 75%. this is, of course, thanks to that great patriot, ronald reagan, who stopped funding for federal mental health hospitals which then put 3 quarters of million people on the streets back in 83 (i think) and the figure has risen with each passing year. now, even middle class people of untold numbers are facing homelessness because of the continuing recession.
we, and that includes me, have a tendency to overlook (or not look at all) the thousands of homeless in our cities. we see them, not as our fellow citizens or our brothers and sisters, but as bums or addicts and some of them surely are bums or addicts but the vast majority are not in those catagories and study after study shows that to be true. i, for one, cannot, in good conscious, continue to do that.
i know that what ever little i do will have only a tiny, tiny bit of difference or no difference at all but if i don't do it, who will?
so, now i am asking you to do a little something to help. volunteer one day a month at a shelter or at a food kitchen or as a driver to get people to medical care. if you can't do that, go to the store and buy a big bag of rice and a big bag of beans (cost, what? 5 dollars??) and donate them to some organization which feeds the hungry. buy some school clothes and donate them. take some of the clothes you no longer wear and donate them. if you won't do it..who will?
i, for one, have sat on my ass and not done what my christian upbringing commands me to do and i really don't want to meet my maker and have to explain how i was just too busy to help my fellow man.
i have a very dear friend who is quite active in social work (especially battered women) and has a lot of contact with the homeless and the people who work with them. i asked her what percentage of the homeless are there because of mental problems and she said probably 75%. this is, of course, thanks to that great patriot, ronald reagan, who stopped funding for federal mental health hospitals which then put 3 quarters of million people on the streets back in 83 (i think) and the figure has risen with each passing year. now, even middle class people of untold numbers are facing homelessness because of the continuing recession.
we, and that includes me, have a tendency to overlook (or not look at all) the thousands of homeless in our cities. we see them, not as our fellow citizens or our brothers and sisters, but as bums or addicts and some of them surely are bums or addicts but the vast majority are not in those catagories and study after study shows that to be true. i, for one, cannot, in good conscious, continue to do that.
i know that what ever little i do will have only a tiny, tiny bit of difference or no difference at all but if i don't do it, who will?
so, now i am asking you to do a little something to help. volunteer one day a month at a shelter or at a food kitchen or as a driver to get people to medical care. if you can't do that, go to the store and buy a big bag of rice and a big bag of beans (cost, what? 5 dollars??) and donate them to some organization which feeds the hungry. buy some school clothes and donate them. take some of the clothes you no longer wear and donate them. if you won't do it..who will?
i, for one, have sat on my ass and not done what my christian upbringing commands me to do and i really don't want to meet my maker and have to explain how i was just too busy to help my fellow man.
posted by Ron Shock | 4:30 PM
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