The Heartless & The Homeless

     I know for many it is difficult to understand how someone could become homeless. But that's a whole different topic for another time, I think.

     The complexities of community responsibility in Los Angeles as well as the realities that homeowners have to deal with 'traffic control' come to a head. Many moons ago, I used to have less compassion for the homeless. That comes from being brought up in a place where there wasn't an evident homeless problem, where misconceptions were perpetuated. "They should just go out and get a job like everyone else..." "The takers keep on taking..." "Don't give them money because they'll just spend it on alcohol and drugs..."

     When you find out the story behind each face, homeless grows into a new definition. When you find out that people you know are or were homeless, you somehow separate them from the rest of the homeless. But that's the problem: many don't make the connection that each homeless person comes with a unique story that is no less valuable than their own. People need to stop viewing those without material goods as sub-humans. It's unfair to think that, just because you are without residence, that your rights as a human become null and void. But that's the sad truth in this country.

     I kind of feel like I'm rambling today, but talking about our homeless population really sickens me because it is a problem that could be easily solved by a little contribution from EVERYONE in a community.  There are over 53,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, many of them are children. Los Angeles Almanac (laalmanac.com) reports that about "42% to 77% [of the homeless population] do not receive public benefits to which they are entitled." We have become a world of Me Me MEEE, and I think we need to reevaluate how we want our world to be. Mr. Homeless Man on the street is my responsibility as well as yours.

     There are so many with warm souls on the inside, while their outsides are covered in filth and excrement. It sickens me that people in a community would actively try to starve others just because they are viewed as a nuisance. That sounds like the Middle Ages to me.

     '“People here — it’s their only way to eat,” said one homeless man, Aaron Lewis, who lives on the sidewalk outside a 7-Eleven. “The community doesn’t help us eat.”'

     Los Angeles City Council, please don't give in to the voices of a few "entitled" homeowners. Step up to the plate and make positive changes instead of further oppressing a minority voice. Our homeless population could be a thing of the past if we all work together.

If you want to read the original article: http://goo.gl/ar76dc