Myth: There is a separate class of people who are homeless.
Fact:Every homeless person has a story and a name. They are not a type of people. They are just people.People used to come into the mission and see a young guy and ask a why question. Why don’t you just….? After you know that same person you just say “No wonder that poor guy ended up homeless”.
Myth:The homeless situation is hopeless.
Fact: The situation is in fact not hopeless. America is a nation of problem solvers. Abraham Lincoln said “If the people want it anything is possible.If the people don’t want it nothing is possible. For me as a spiritually oriented man I also feel God will pitch in if we have the faith to believe She/He wants to end homelessness.
Myth: Homelessness is an economic problem.
Fact: Economics is an important part of the problem, but homelessness has a relational root and a relational solution.
Myth:Homelessness is a government problem.
Fact: eighty years of American history say that government will not solve the problem. Only people like you and me working hard together for a few decades can get the job done.
I do not have a solution at this moment for homelessness but I firmly believe that if we start trying to find things that work we will hit on dozens of ideas that when they are implemented will move us toward more ideas that will move us toward our goal.
In my lifetime I have seen George Wallace barring the door of the University of Alabama, I have seen democracy be a growing world wide movement so that even Putin feels the need to pretend Russia is a democracy. I have seen gay people come out of the closet so completely that they can get married anywhere in the country. I have seen ecology and the environment become a major issues world issue. Our whole attitude about smoking change so I know longer have to breathe smoke every time I take a flight or sit down in a restaurant. Equal pay for women gets closer and closer. Change is always possible. I believe in it.
George Caywood 