They Want to be Homeless

November 16, 2017

We must be careful in our words and our thoughts that form those words. Working with people is always a challenge whether they have a roof over their head or not.

When we as providers, community leaders, and concerned citizens say things like “Some people just WANT to be homeless”, we aren’t being truthful in how we use those words, and in the process we have stripped hopeless people of any hope they may have thought about having.

We have a system that says “conform”. Here is the box. Get in it. And when people refuse because of many, many, MANY different complicated reasons or for the simple fact they’re human and don’t like what we’re proposing for their situation, we say they want their situation. We say, there is no hope for you. Stay where you are.

We must be careful in our words. We must realize all humans are humans. All humans have different needs, different capabilities, different obstacles, and different desires.

Once we consider this, we will also consider that no one WANTS to live without the safety of walls and a roof. Once we realize this, we will see that no one WANTS the discomfort of having no running water to wash themselves or the use of a toilet daily. Once we realize this, we can come to the table with innovative, out-of-the-box ideas that allow our most vulnerable neighbors to have a chance at stability and at a life that is more than just surviving.

Words have meaning. And all people deserve the dignity and respect that those words sometimes take from them. I am an advocate for human beings and I support this message. Stop saying people want to be homeless or better yet, they deserve it. #housingworks2017 #homelesslivesarehumanlives