come on rise up
Y'all, I learned something awe-striking this week. Richmond? Does not have to have homeless people.
About 1500 people don't have permanent housing in the area each day. Only about 4000-5000 people are homeless each year. A MILLION people live in Richmond and its counties (though a lot of our homeless neighbors are in the city proper - but still, 5000 out of maybe 200,000). And some of those people are kids, right? So Richmond needs like, what? 4000 decent-paying jobs and apartments that cost less than ridiculous Fan rents? We should do that.
Thursday I volunteered at this homeless connection thing with Homeward, and I've been waiting to write about it till I could even talk about it without being flooded with emotion. The event brought together a bunch of services for folk who don't have permanent homes (this includes a fair number of people who are staying in long term shelters and transitional housing), and volunteers walked each person through whatever services they asked for. Jobs. Healthcare. Photo ID - that was a popular one. Haircuts. I about lost it when my last client, who is my age, needed a place to stay for the night [Done. 2 minutes.]. The folk I worked with were fantastic, gracious people. Yeah, a couple of them were unmotivated, maybe a little whiny (as homeless people tend to be stereotyped) - but you know what? So are some of y'all (and me, sometimes). We make poor decisions. Some people make a lot of them. Some people get caught in bizarrely bad circumstances. That? Is what community is supposed to protect and rescue you from: poor decisions & shitty circumstances.
Anyhow. It was an intense experience, and it spurred me to find out how to take more systemic action. You should do the same.
About 1500 people don't have permanent housing in the area each day. Only about 4000-5000 people are homeless each year. A MILLION people live in Richmond and its counties (though a lot of our homeless neighbors are in the city proper - but still, 5000 out of maybe 200,000). And some of those people are kids, right? So Richmond needs like, what? 4000 decent-paying jobs and apartments that cost less than ridiculous Fan rents? We should do that.
Thursday I volunteered at this homeless connection thing with Homeward, and I've been waiting to write about it till I could even talk about it without being flooded with emotion. The event brought together a bunch of services for folk who don't have permanent homes (this includes a fair number of people who are staying in long term shelters and transitional housing), and volunteers walked each person through whatever services they asked for. Jobs. Healthcare. Photo ID - that was a popular one. Haircuts. I about lost it when my last client, who is my age, needed a place to stay for the night [Done. 2 minutes.]. The folk I worked with were fantastic, gracious people. Yeah, a couple of them were unmotivated, maybe a little whiny (as homeless people tend to be stereotyped) - but you know what? So are some of y'all (and me, sometimes). We make poor decisions. Some people make a lot of them. Some people get caught in bizarrely bad circumstances. That? Is what community is supposed to protect and rescue you from: poor decisions & shitty circumstances.
Anyhow. It was an intense experience, and it spurred me to find out how to take more systemic action. You should do the same.