Defining Homelessness

Last night's Tent City meeting was a little crazy. We had some new folks that, understandably, had quite a few questions about TC. This had us bouncing back and forth between progress reports and educating new folks.

One of the newbies had questions about homelessness itself: What is it?

This may seem like a "dumb" question on the surface, but those who work (and hang out) with the homeless - or, as some of us prefer to called them, the unhoused - know there are a lot of stories out there, a lot of reasons why people end up on the streets, in shelters, in transitional houses, on friends' couches...

Which brings us back to the question: What is homelessness?

Amy Newman-Mentel of the Red Cross quoted the VA's simplified definition: When you're sleeping in place that's not yours.

Gee, by that definition, I have been homeless.

On February 6th, 2006, my aunt and I lost our home to a fire. We spent five months living in my dad's guest room. Were we fortunate to have a place to go? Yes! Did our family and friends support us and help us get back on our feet? Hell yes! Yes, we were the fortunate ones. I wonder, though, if the fire had been delayed three years to happen this last February, would circumstances have allowed us to be as fortunate?

I believe our country is at a pivotal moment in history. Social justice is rising to the forefront - even the Church is slowly waking up to the true calling of Christ: Love. The economic crisis is allowing more people than ever in at least two generations to see the line between homed and unhomed become thinner and thinner, making "them" quite a lot like "us".

As Jim Bailey from the Cherry Street Mission said in regards to serving at Tent City, "You realize the only demographic [for the homeless] is they're people."

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SMALL CHANGE.