Saturday, February 12, 2011

-Homeless

Today I saw this picture "HOMELESS GO HOME" First I thought it was to say "GET OUT or YOUR NOT WELCOME" and I was utterly disgusted that someone would say such a thing but then I realized after reading the article that it was homeless people getting helped and homeless people getting to go back to there home's.  That made me happy, but then I got to thinking although we as Christians and good people would hopefully never say to a homeless person that they are not welcome here or tell them to leave our presence. I realized it's not a matter of words but it's a matter expressed by our actions. I wonder what would hurt me most, the word's "your not welcome here" or me on a street corner with my cardboard sign watching the countless people that sit in there car and ignore me. For some reason I think the person after person ignoring me would hurt most. In the ignoring I think I would feel worthless, like no one cares, no one loves me, I am not important, less and less human and more like a tree or a bug or disease or trash. How would you feel in a homeless persons shoes, if you were blessed enough to even have them?   
 
 Shortly after I saw the first picture I saw this one. I realized being homeless is not a crime, it can be a consequence of many bad choices th out a persons life but never the less it is not a crime.  I have found out that in my head I was thinking of homeless people as some kind of criminals. Then I started to become utterly disgusted with my own self.
I got to thinking how many homeless people are homeless for the reasons I have been thinking "Drug Addiction, Alcohol Addiction, Just out of Prison or Jail... The list goes on" so I googled it...

The answer I found surprised me.

   Most common reasons for houselessness:
  • Domestic and family violence (22%)
  • Eviction/previous accommodation ended (11%)
  • Relationship/family breakdown (11%)
  • Financial Difficulty (10%) 
  • Drug and alcohol addiction (9%)


Although I'm more then sure there are people out there homeless from the bad reasons I have listed above, that is not the over all case. Some how I have seemed to over looked these people in our society and viewed them in there minority instead of there majority.


On a given night, an estimated 672,000 people experience homelessness. This means 22 out of every 10,000 people are homeless in America. 42% of those 672,000 are unsheltered (meaning they live on the streets or in other forms of shelter not meant for human habitation), while 58% are living in shelters or transitional housing. 37% of the homeless are people in family units, while 63% are individual adults. The most common makeup of a homeless family is a mother with one or two children. This certainly goes against the image of homelessness most perceive; we’ve noticed that people typically picture the homeless as a single male standing on the street corner, not a single mom with kids in tow.

IN AMERICA! 
What have we been doing?

Tonight I have had a reality check, and am dreaming up ways to help my brothers and sisters in need.
We are a generation called to be different, let's not look over the people that so many before us have.
Let's reach the lost, love the unloved, and help the forgotten... Let's show this world the good new's let's show them our mighty God, our Savior, our Redeemer, let's show them the way to The Man of our Salvation! 

 "We love because he first loved us."1 Josh 4:19.



I love ALL people,
-Shellby Celeste 


"Facts and Numbers taken from google/wikipedia"

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