I recognize the plight of those who have fallen on very difficult times, including abandonment, loss of employment, despondency and sadness...I've met people who packed a backpack, and left all behind because of the loss of a loved one. I've seen skinny bedraggled women standing alongside the road holding signs that clearly revealed a need, such as "I realize I've come to the point where I must ask for help..." Their demeanor is embarrassed as they beg.
Sadly, there are those who have turned it into a business. Once, we drove by a woman with a sign that said, "Car broke down; no work; homeless..please help". What an education for us! We bought her a sandwich and a jug of OJ, which she received haltingly. I asked her for a phone number so I can help her search for work. She grudgingly gave one.
I called the phone number later to find it not in service. The next day, a Sunday, our local paper had a photo of this woman on the front page: "I can make $300 a day panhandling here. Why should I work?" I think she should have been prosecuted for fraud. Indeed, I think if it can be shown that a person is not homeless, and all their needs are met, and they are stating that they are indeed homeless, then I think they should be prosecuted for fraud.
Recently, there was a well-dressed Hispanic woman running around a freeway offramp with a sign and a small, one gallon gas can. "Out of gas. Please help." She was running up to car windows and knocking on them. Nobody was giving her money. I mean, really? Maybe that works in downtown Bogota...
Then there was the wisp of a girl with this sign: "Pregnant and homeless. Please help.." She was at the same corner for four months. I wonder when she'd begin to look pregnant. Fact is, if you are a woman, unmarried and pregnant, there are a gazillion community services just for YOU, including help with housing, food, and medical care.
The stories are endless.
So, one day, I'm stopped at a light, and there's a man who is there every day. He looks well enough to work, is dressed in warm, clean clothes, not a shopping cart or mangy dog in sight....and the Spirit whispers to me...
"Seek first the Kingdom of God, and it's righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."
There are those who truly need intervention. I'm not saying we shouldn't help them, and perform extreme hosting. I know a woman, living alone, who took a girl and her husband into her home, and they lived with her for 6 months. The girl had been panhandling to get money so they could return home to Florida. The woman who owned the home took her to lunch, met the husband, heard their story, then made the offer. Living with her rent free, he gets a job, and she finds part time work. Two months after they returned home, she received photos of their newborn baby.
Throwing money to panhandlers is enabling them to be irresponsible with their lives. As such, so is helping the consistently homeless. Yes, we cannot let them starve or freeze to death. We must save their lives, yet let us understand, that if they are willfully homeless and we do not require that they take action to improve their lives, then we are only enabling them to continue in their dysfunctional ways.
