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Old 12-15-2010, 07:43 AM   #5 (permalink)
snowy
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Location: Oregon
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru View Post
You aren't going to eliminate homelessness this way, and so the other way to deal with it is to have comprehensive programs to alleviate the suffering that comes with being without a home. This includes accessible shelters, food programs, clothing programs, job training programs, etc. This should be pretty obvious by now. I think the problem isn't so much the existence of such things but their adequate funding and accessibility---mainly their area of coverage and ability to serve people satisfactorily.
I'd like to say that in terms of ministries that prevent homelessness, I'd like to think our church is doing a pretty good job in that respect. We're the largest contributor to one of the local food banks, for example. As far as helping the homeless, we do perform a homeless outreach event once a year that aims to connect the homeless with community resources. We also participate in ecumenical ministries with other churches that provide shelter and meals to the homeless in our community.

My husband and I were discussing last night that one of the difficulties homeless and low income people in our community face is lack of knowledge about community resources. There are a lot of programs in my community to help the impoverished of all kinds, but many people do not know what they are. It makes us sad that here we are, two college graduates who will never need these resources, yet we both know what they are and how to secure them.

One kind of complicating factor here is that the homeless present in our church may have been kicked out of community resources. For instance, in order to use the daytime drop-in center, the person must be sober. There are many homeless in our community who don't agree with this restriction, and so seek out other places to take shelter other than the daytime drop-in center. We had one man last year who became a nuisance after being kicked out and banned from the daytime drop-in center after getting in a fight with another man.

Having the homeless hang around our church is an issue because we are a community center. There is a daycare facility that operates out of our church, and the safety of the children must be considered when allowing our church to be used by others. As said in the OP, there is no problem when someone stops in to get out of the weather for a bit and lets our office manager know their purpose; however, there are a couple of men who have skipped this step and just sacked out in a random corner of the church, or gotten into the kitchens/bathrooms directly adjacent to the childcare area.

So while all this talk of preventing homelessness is well and good, it doesn't really do anything to help me solve our immediate problem. You should probably also know my community tends to attract a unique kind of homeless--the guy who didn't want to work for the Man. I live in a hippie town, and I've also had the opportunity to talk to a lot of the homeless around here. Many of them do have substance abuse problems that keep them out of shelters, and many have mental health disorders that are untreated. Again, the safety of the children at our church is what comes first.
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