A Basket Full of Wishes

One of my favorite antique shops on Facebook, Atelier de Campagne was showing a very beautiful champagne basket on Facebook and was asking if we had that basket what would we fill it with...it would have been so easy to list all my favorite material things and dream of how great it would be to receive a basket full of these things but that wasn't my first thought.

If I could have filled that basket, it would have been not for material items but for the dreams of so many children and families right now who are struggling to find the money to purchase just the basics for their families. To fill a basket with wishes of the thoughts that no child would ever go hungry, that all children would have warm clothing and the necessary school items to give them a proper education, that the homeless would all have a home, that there would be jobs and equality for the millions of middle class, poor, and disenfranchised people who are unemployed and that we as a people would come together for the common good of all people who are suffering at the expense of the gridlock in Washington.

One of the very first posts I wrote when I opened my blog was an article on the homeless and the encounter I had with one such person. It left me speechless, and to this day, I have not forgotten the look on this man's face. Because Christmas is a time of sharing and hopefully doing for others less fortunate I wanted to share this story once again with my "peeps" in the hopes that we won't forget the people who for one reason or another have lost their way and find themselves in a situation that they never in a million years thought would happen to them.

The Sad Plight of the Homeless:

We were out running around yesterday and had stopped at a Redbox to pick up a movie when I saw a young man who was homeless, wearing what looked like two pair of pants, one on top of the other. The second pair was faded, ripped, and so thin that you could hardly see much of the original pants. He had dreadlocks and there were leaves and debris covering the back of his head. The soles of his shoes no longer connected to his tops and flapped as he walked. He was headed for the trash can directly at an angle from where I was sitting in the car. He turned to see if anyone was looking and pulled out a pizza box. He opened it up and took out what looked to be a piece of the crust and pushed the box back into the can. As he walked away he kept turning around looking...Looking at me. I suppose to see if I was looking at him?

When my husband returned with the movie and we started on our way to the grocery, I suddenly was struck with the notion to go back to see if he was still there to give him some money. We didn't have much on us ( the use of debit cards have all but erased the idea of carrying cash) but I thought maybe he could use what little we had to purchase something to eat or drink. When we drove back around I saw him sitting on the edge of the curb drinking an orange crush with two packages of cheese crackers laying next to his drink. We stopped the car and I rolled down my window looking at him. His eyes were devoid of any expression...blank and lifeless and suddenly I was overcome with such sorrow and pain that I thought this must me how God feels when he looks into the eyes of one of his children who is suffering. I asked him to take the money for coffee or food but he shook his head no. After urging him to take it three times he looked at me, thanked me but said no. Not wanting to bother him any further we left.

I don't believe I have ever been so saddened by what I saw. His eyes still haunt me when I think of him. I keep asking myself why he refused the money? If, as most people think, that it is not a good idea to give homeless people money and if he was an addict of drugs or alcohol why didn't he accept the money? I still believe that, regardless of the circumstances that bring people to the streets, they still have some pride and dignity. That no one can feel the sense of failure, the desolation, or the hopelessness in their spirit.

I was trying to find a picture of the homeless to attach to this post but instead thought these words might be more fitting than a photo: " Homeless people are spirits sent from heaven to test our true character". So, the next time you see a homeless person seeking shelter, or looking for food in trash cans and you walk right past them without so much as a look ask yourself this: What makes me think that this couldn't be me?

The Face of the Homeless

What would the homeless look like to you? Would they be disheveled, and dirty? Would they be wearing clothing that was tattered and torn? Or could they be walking right next to you dressed as everyone else? It's hard to say because homelessness doesn't just apply to the very poorest, the drug addicts or domestic abuse victims. It applies to men, women, families with children, and young adults who have lost jobs, homes, and in some case their own families. So, how do you put a face on homelessness?

I walk everyday and usually come into contact with people who are obviously homeless victims. Sometimes they are sitting at sheltered bus stops, sleeping on benches, collecting money at stop lights and holding signs that say, "I'm homeless" or "Will work for food" hoping that someone will throw a few coins into their can. Most people struggle to look at these people because it is a reminder of the magnitude and seriousness of a growing problem in America.

A report dated August, 2007 from the National Coalition for the Homeless estimated that on average single men make up 51% of the homeless population, families with children 30%, single women 17%, and unaccompanied youths 2%. This of course does not include another group of people often referred to as the "unsheltered" or "hidden homeless" who live in their cars, in campgrounds and in abandoned buildings or other places where they cannot be found.

A national study of formerly homeless people found that the most common places people who had been literally homeless lived in were vehicles (59.2%), with the next largest category (24.6%) of homeless people living in makeshift housing, tents, boxes, caves or boxcars. This gives us all a snapshot of the seriousness of this problem. But more important than the ever growing number of people who are homeless is what progress is being made to end it. Unfortunately, since 2007 the problem has increased and the funding for helping has decreased, and more budget cuts at all levels of government being made now means that even less help will be available for these most vulnerable members of our society.

We all need to search our own souls to see if we can help even a little, if not with money then with time (there is a link on Facebook for causes that will pay .10 for each minute of our time to different causes, basically filling out some type of questionnaire for an advertiser who is paying the dime for our time). How many of us have needed and received some small assist in our past, whether from family or friends or co-workers, etc., to help us over some rough spot? We all take these "leg-up" assists in stride without a second thought and without realizing how easily and quickly fate can take everything away from us. Listen to the voices of the homeless as they tell their stories, many are broke and homeless as a result of two or three problems in their lives (losing a job, having some medical expenses, etc.) that they could not overcome quickly enough to avoid being cast into poverty and homelessness.

If each of us give just a little, we can help change the course of someones life for the better. Please do what you can. And visit the link www.nationalhomelessness.org  for more facts and information.