Southwest Detroit: Homeless

So many people look down on homeless people and homeless families like they are bums or dirt.
They see a homeless person walking down the street, they go to all cost to avoid them, even if it is to walk across the street.
People treat the homeless as though they have some disease or something.
But what these people do not realize is this, homeless people are just like you and I.

More than 70% of the American population is less than two paychecks away from being homeless themselves.
Do they know this?
Many of them do, they just do not want to think about it.
If you do not think about it, you will be fine, this is what is going on in their heads.
“Oh, it will never happen to me.”
And that is where so many people go wrong.

Did you know that in toady’s world, if you are homeless, you are in really bad shape, to get a place to live, you need a job, and to get a job, you need a place to live?
And if you are in a shelter, so many Managers, Supervisors, or business owners will not hire you?
You may get someone in a fast food restaurant to feel sorry for you and hire you, but for the most part, people will not hire you because they think “The homeless are lazy” and they do not want to work.
And usually that is the furthest from the truth that anyone can get.

Ever see a dirty looking man with tattered clothes that goes from store to store asking for work, only to be turned down?
More than likely, that man has a family in a shelter, a wife and children, some cities will not take men, but they will take women and children, so the man is stuck sleeping in a box or on some cardboard covered with anything he can find to keep warm, and you can bet he is not too far from his wife and children.
He is trying his best to get a job, he is frantic, he wants to be with his family.
But is being denied that chance.

Ever see a homeless couple sitting on a bench in the park?
They know what you think of them, but do you know what they think?
I will tell you, they are looking at each person that passes them by, trying to imagine their homes, their apartments, wishing that they could be in an apartment, or a home, maybe even a trailer, so they can be together, so they also can watch TV or play games, and cook, and clean their own place.

But society is stopping them from doing so.
You have the power to change this, open your minds and hearts to a homeless person, holiday seasons are approaching quickly while we celebrate the holidays with our families think of the less fortunate living in dark alleys, abandoned homes, and sleeping on park benches, before you throw out leftover food, remember there’s people out there eating from trash cans.

Think, this could be you one day!!

A glimpse into the lives of the southwest Detroit area homeless population:

Detroit Hunger Alliance & Project Dignity: Nourishing The Body & Soul: