Common Misconceptions About Homelessness
What Are Some Common Misconceptions About Homelessness?
First, a quick story on homelessness
“Ma’am, would you let me come do some yard work for you in exchange for a place to sleep tonight?”
As his story unfolded, it was clear to see a desperate man who was willing to do whatever it took to be able to simply lay his head down somewhere for a night's rest. This man was a hard worker, but for a lot of our contract labor employees here, work is only an option if there is a job to do. When there isn’t one, these guys who are used to traveling jobs and sometimes nights in hotels can’t afford the bill. Makes sense: no work equals no pay. For those of who receive steady pay, this is a non-issue; Our salaries buffer the blow of down times that lead to lower paychecks; but for those who show up to work each morning to earn a day’s pay, being sent away from the job site means so much more than a small paycheck; for this man, it meant a night on the street.
Even more than the uncertainty of the night’s sleeping arrangements, I know his heart was heavy. For a man who stands at 6’4, weak is not a word I would have used to describe him. His hands were calloused, eyes tired, and shoes were worn. Hard labor was no stranger to him, yet when a person his stature has to meagerly ask for work just so they can rest safely without being charged for trespassing or loitering for laying down on a park bench, dignity seems to lose its sight. The confidence a hard working man gets from putting in a hard day's work seems to diminish in his own eyes the moment he asks someone to let him sleep in their garage. He becomes vulnerable, and he may even question his own worth.
What are common misconceptions about homelessness?
“Homeless people are lazy.”
“Why don’t they just get a job?”
“Homeless people are all on drugs.”
“They just want a hand out.”
I hear these statements all the time yet what I see is so different from the few select folks that are holding up signs near the interstate. I don’t pretend to know every single homeless person in my community, but of those that I do know, the obstacles keeping them from living like I do are not that they are lazy, because I see hungry faces each day that come in for a free lunch while they are on their lunch break, doing work that is quite frankly dangerous to work out in the summer heat. Still, they do it. At the end of their day, their hands are calloused, they have blisters on their feet, and their clothes are soaked from all the sweat they have poured out all day. Then they are looking for a bed at night and a shower so they can set out the next day to do it all again. It’s survival of the fittest and those most humble asking me for a daily meal are going through obstacles that I could never understand.
What is homelessness really?
Let me counter my previously-mentioned misconceptions about the man in the story:
Homeless people aren’t lazy. Imagine getting off work each day, like many of them do, and having to find a safe place to sleep for the night. The effort is daunting and because it’s almost like having a second job just to survive, we see our homeless suffer mentally and medically due to always being in survival mode. Simply going to work is not simple when you are also trying to get off work and walk four miles afterward to try and make it to the nearest shelter, only to be turned away when the beds are full.
Many homeless people have jobs. We all think about the faces that we see asking for money on the side of the road, but experience tells me that that is a small margin of the homeless in our city. I think about the man who is sleeping in his truck a half mile away from his construction job. I think about the fast food worker who is clocking out at 10pm from his fast food job and sleeping on a work bench in the breakroom because he has a sympathetic boss. I think about the Conway Regional hospital worker who knows where bed storage is and knows that nobody goes in there, making it a place where she can sleep at night, and also access the thrown away food from the cafeteria. All homeless, all working full time jobs, sometimes even two when possible.
Homeless people are not all on drugs. They are no different than you and I, they simply lack support. They have survived hurricanes and other natural disasters. They took care of elderly parents only to find that no one could take care of them after the parents passed away. They fled domestic situations that almost cost them their lives yet now are sleeping in minivans at night with their children in random parking lots because now at least they are alive.
Homeless people don’t just want a hand out. The young man in the story wanted to work. He couldn’t. Getting a job is complicated, and for those that succeed at getting a job, the odds are stacked against them. Transportation is a huge obstacle to overcome. Not having an address is a hurdle when you are having a conversation with a new employer’s HR department. Having the ability to access electricity so you might be able to charge a phone is necessary so you can set an alarm to wake you up the next morning. Access to a shower is important. All of these things make the homeless lifestyle incredibly hard.
This is why the Conway Ministry Center advocates. This is why the Ministry Center operates from a place of grace and dignity to each person that we come into contact with. This is why the Ministry Center believes in the power of choice; and this is why the Ministry Center continues to pray for our clients daily as we strive to serve them the best way we can.
And if you want to learn more about our unique Refuge Shelter and how we plan to help those in our community, read more here:
By Sarah Wilson