Our Role in Poverty

Yesterday I did A Day in a Life.

What that means is that one goes with an educator from St. Stephen's Human Services around the city learning about homelessness. My first thought about it was doubtful because I knew that after we were done with this, we were going to get pizza and then go back to our comfortable homes/filthy dorms (our inaction to clean).

At our arrival we met the educators who will take us around; some are former homeless. My group was Richard, who identifies as Indian American and Chicano, four white students and I, identified as "other" today. We learned a lot about natives, art and identity, heard some poetry from Richard, and walked up and down Franklin Ave. Richard teared up when he talked about getting a gift from a Vet and said: "This country has taken so much from us, but we have given so much to it." He's now trying to get the country to recognize those Natives who fought in majors wars and have yet to be recognized. Then we visited some low-income apartments that are a model to what can be possible if we decided we actually end homelessness.

Then we met Terry, who was homeless on and off since 9 years old. His family took him here and there and ended up in drugs. He traveled throughout states seeking for shelter until he came to MN. Here he was able to find low-income housing and even took us to his apartment. At one point he asked: Imagine going from the streets where the cold and indignity kills you to your own place; imagine growing up in unthinkable situations and going to your own little place, your own little kitchen, your own bed. Imagine living in the streets to moving into your own place. He then gave us cookies. The reason was because that was what was available when he was homeless: junk food, which is one of the reasons why people in the streets have bad teeth. Today he works three jobs, but is still considered low-income. Health issues are numerous and now many might lose their health care because Pawlenty, through allotment, has cut the General Assistance Medical Care.

After that we walked to Sharing & Caring by Mary Jo where we had lunch. There were many people, mostly people of color. When we arrived, we saw staring at our group. Certainly it was not me, but to our well-dressed white students who obviously were not there for necessity to food in reality. I am sure we were all hungry to learn, but there was some sense of unaccountability. After being on line and getting food, we sat down and found some tension between a guest to this food shelf and us who had no idea of the rules of this place.

There was also some racial tension, which is interesting to think about. From various readings we found that people of color, children of color, mentally ill, vets, and women are more likely to require this kind of assistance in a daily basis in MN. So here you have a bunch of white kids coming to eat at a place that many had never been to and where those who go there regularly probably felt threaten that we sat in their sits. Some racial slurs were thrown at my white peers and some to Richard. But at the end we moved and all was fine.

The Salvation Army was next, where we got to see what they offer and met two people who used the facilities last year after biking their way to MN from Missouri and a dog (one died in the way) and after escaping the Iowa flood on the last car that left Iowa before roads were shut down. We saw where people stay at night and where they sleep. On the walls in this cold room are numbers on blue-Scotch tape signaling where mats go. Someone said, "Every number is a body." Seeing that the floor was empty and mats on the corners on top of each other I assume each person who comes there gets assigned to a number and where they will spend the next night. I could not help but imagine how society designates the future of people the same way Germany officials dictated the faith of millions of Jews in the 40s. I could not help but think of the book Night.

The last person was someone who list everything to drug-addiction. When I say everything, I mean it. She was making over 1,000,000 dollars a year! She had the material things many strive to get in life. She decided to try drugs for the first time in her late 20s after seeing that her husband could not leave the drugs. She wanted to know why. She is now in MN recovering--not after losing her monetary wealth, her husband, prostituting herself, not on the streets, but by being in relationships with men who could only afford her addiction. She also went to jail three times, so three felonies in her record, and lost custody to her children, one of whom has been sexually abused and she can't do much.

Over all, it was an intense day, a day to remember, people to remember, people to keep in mind when decisions to cut programs are cut. Politics are one thing, but the well being of people shall be more important and yesterday that was reinforced. I learned that drugs could cripple in any one's life at any point and I learned that if one listened to those in the outcast, we will be better off, we will be better humans to each other. In the streets I met real people, people we have learned to avoid, people with troubled histories but with enormous dreams, dreams many of us take for granted for we posses them.

We all have a role in this; we all can do something. And here are some things we can all do:
1. Believe poverty can be alleviated.
2. Tell the truth (not all homeless people are there by choice as many other stereotypes can be challenged)
3. Learn about the different plans in place today to end homelessness
4. Call elected officials to support legislation that will protect people's human rights, such as shelter
5. Do A Day in a Life (but be aware of your own privileges before going into this and thinking people need you--people we met they wished they did not have to depend on human services and all those involved in that. Clearly they also want to get rid of such programs, but today cutting programs will make things worst, for those in the streets and for those who work with them)
6. When you see a homeless person, do not cross the street, so that you avoid them; we are all human beings; we all deserve dignity