Here’s what I hate:
Living in a box.
I was homeless for a night.
Well, not really.
My daughter’s school hosted a special event where kids and chaperones
could spend one night outside in a cardboard box on the school grounds. The students collected pledges for this
event and all monies went to Nashville Family Rescue Mission to benefit the
homeless here in Nashville.
It was a powerful, eye-opening experience.
Granted, it wasn’t a fully authentic homeless experience,
but it was close.
FOOD—was provided—soup kitchen style in the cafeteria. We waited in line. We got a fair portion. It, apparently, was not enough to fill
me up, which did add some authenticity since I felt hunger pains in the
night. Since participants were not
allowed to bring outside food, I began to obsess over the fact that I had
NOTHING with me to eat. This added
to the feeling of deficiency somewhat, except that I knew I’d get breakfast in
the morning. I have a feeling that
breakfast is rarely guaranteed to the homeless.
SHELTER—a giant cardboard box served as my little tent for
the night. It got down to 35
degrees. Had I not had my
Northface Sleeping bag (cheating!), I would NOT have made it through the night
outside.
The school made the box portion of the event fun by having a
decorating contest. My group of
three 5th-grade girls chose a candy theme and decorated our boxes
like candy boxes. They won 2nd
place! As far as I know, the
homeless don’t award prizes for best box hut or anything, so that wasn’t very
real-to-life...but it was fun!
ENTERTAINMENT—students were not allowed to bring
electronics. (Praise the
Lord!) They could bring a book or
playing cards. Mostly, the kids
ran around in the dark schoolyard and played flashlight tag. I’m guessing that books and cards might
be a general go-to form of entertainment for the homeless, but, truthfully, I
have no idea. The school principal
did gather the kids around at one point to tell stories. This is something that surely must help
the homeless pass the time—exchanging stories is universal to community. In fact, community was the secret to surviving the night. Whether it was chatting over soup,
being huddled together for warmth, or commiserating over frosty fingers, having
someone to share it all with was key.
The Bible even talks about the practicality of community and how it's not good for man to be alone...
RESTROOMS—We were allowed to use the restrooms inside the
school. I must admit that I had
never thought about this aspect of homelessness before. If you don’t have a home, you don’t
have a restroom. Hopefully, you
can use one in a shelter or another public restroom. But, as I was sitting there in the school restroom I
imagined what it would be like if this was the only place I had to “do my
business.” Public restrooms are
rarely clean, they are often cold and sterile, and not well-stocked. The toilet paper is not the best and
many restrooms don’t even have paper towel anymore, so you can forget dampening
one to wipe your brow. The other
thing about public restrooms is that they are, well, public. Anyone can walk in at any moment, which
adds to the discomfort of the whole scenario. My heart grew heavy as I stared down at the gray tiles under
the fluorescent lights. What a sad
place to “go.”
SLEEPLESSNESS—As it turns out, cardboard doesn’t provide
much cushion. I am sure you are
shocked at this realization. I
even had a folded quilt under me, but this didn’t help much. It was only 35 degrees that night…did I
mention that? I was hungry. Did I mention that? The box was narrow and crammed. All in all, I did not rest well. Now, whenever I see a homeless person,
I will know that they might be cold, hungry, and just plain tired! The next day, my grogginess affected my
mental capacity and decision-making skills. For example: I put
lotion on my hands before trying to
open a Chapstick lid. Greasy hands
do not work well for that particular task.
“INJURY”—At one point in the evening, I must have “injured”
my hand. I likely pulled a little
muscle or strained a ligament or something really minor and dumb. But, how I did it has
significance. I was carrying my
box. My shelter for the night
needed to be carried across the schoolyard and set up. I was also carrying stuff in my other
hand, so I used my right hand to try to grasp the box and slide it along. Apparently, my puny, weak hand can’t be
trusted to lift several pounds of awkward cardboard. This caused me
to consider that there must be times that the homeless have to carry their few
minor possessions to a different locale.
This could be tricky if you don’t have a bag or a wheelbarrow or
something. That has to be why
shopping carts are so useful to the homeless. But, speaking
of injuries, I am sure major wounds can get addressed in the ER, but what about
minor scrapes and bruises? Do they
carry around Motrin for headaches?
Do they have Band-aids?
What about ice for a rolled ankle?
The most minor abrasions can become pretty annoying when you can’t treat
them the way most of us would. Or,
perhaps they don’t matter at all when you have no food and no shelter.
One night of homelessness was not enough to answer many of
these questions. But, at least it
got me thinking. At least it
opened my eyes to what some of it actually feels
like:
Cold,
dreary,
wet,
dirty,
empty,
uncomfortable
are a few of the words that come to mind.
Much like a girl might have an improved knowledge of
motherhood after babysitting, I now have an enhanced view of what it might be
like to be homeless. But a
babysitter gives the screaming baby back after a few hours and I went home to
my warm, cozy house. My pseudo-homeless night showed me a
tiny bit about what it might be like to live as a homeless person, but what it
didn’t tell me are the reasons that lead various individuals to loose their
homes and families.
There are a myriad of factors that can lead to
homelessness. We tend to zero in
on the ones that make it okay to ignore the guy on the street corner—drugs,
alcohol, crime, and good, ol’ fashioned laziness are all things that can result
in homelessness. But, many, many
homeless people struggle with mental illness, debilitating diseases, abuse,
neglect, and plain ol’ bad luck.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell if street person is a criminal, a
drunkard, a battered spouse, or just a guy who couldn’t get work and was
neglected by family and friends.
By ignoring one, we
ignore them all.
Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. These are just people with broken lives and broken hearts. I encourage you to open your eyes, pray
for discernment on when to offer assistance, but always offer a smile. If they’ve just spent the night on the
cold ground with a semi-empty stomach, they may not feel like returning the
kindness, but you’d be surprised at how many times they smile in spite of it
all. I wonder how they find the
strength to smile after dark nights, public restrooms, small meals, and no end
in sight.
If you feel anything like I used to feel, you are scared of
the homeless. I have two
suggestions for you:
2.
Read Matthew 25:35
Be on the look out, it doesn’t take much—if you can spare a
dollar and a smile you’ve already improved the day of a homeless person. If you can spare a warm blanket and
some hearty food, then you’ve just improved their night.
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