"Consider your relationship with the homeless people around you"

This is a very interesting question for me. I remember hearing not long ago that a study conducted by psychologists found that many people registered homeless people they passed on the street in the same way that they registered inanimate objects. This disgusted but did not surprise me. I have always been someone who occasionally gives change to homeless people, feeling weird when I arbitrarily decide not to and pondering the fact that I, like so many other’s say “sorry” when I decide not to cough up. What am I sorry for? For lying about the fact that actually I do have change, or for the fact I can’t be honest and say “no”? “Sorry” irritates me because it is almost meaningless, just like saying “good” when someone asks you how you are doing.

Since working in the mental health field my relationship to homeless people has definitely changed. I know now that if you are homeless and on welfare you don’t get any money for shelter… until you find somewhere to stay and then let The Ministry know about it. I also know that if you are on disability you only get about 500 bucks to live on a month. If you are considered employable it’s way, way less. I know a lot about the challenges homeless people face, and yet occasionally I find myself thinking, “Hmmm, no, not today… there are resources out there… drop-ins, food banks, shelters, The Ministry…”. Of course I forget that all of these things have their own stresses, stigma’s, burocracy, and drawbacks. Being involved in them takes up time and energy and they are all part of a system, which like many systems can perpetuate the very thing it seeks to change.

On April 4th I attended the March For Housing, an amazing and beautiful experience. People wore blankets over themselves to show that they were homeless – and to see them protesting and demanding action with a large mass of allies was very emotional. I recognised homeless people among the protestors and I was reminded of how often we forget to look not just at homeless people, but at each other and remember – this person has great depth – they are a brother or a sister, a lover, a teacher, a learner, an experiencer of suffering and of pleasure – I wonder what this person is like to live with, to laugh with, what their life story is…?

I think homeless people more than anyone else are overlooked for what we all are – human beings with great depth, a life story that we cannot possibly know based on the limited experience of a few encounters.