The Homeless Experience

Last week's ethics class was guest lectured by David Schultz who works in the Adult Mental Health Division of DHS. He was a great speaker - engaging and funny. I like how he gave us his standpoint before lecturing to us - that during the Vietnam War, he was a conscientious objector, but that he firmly believes in each citizen giving a few years of their time for their country. For Schultz, this time was spent on the streets, homeless. He worked closely with Catholic Charities and spent two years on the streets getting to know people, trying to help them, and in the end, learning a lot about survival and what it means to be alive and live in poverty.

Schultz's lecture was given on Ash Wednesday. Many of my fellow nursing students were already donning the dark grey crosses on their foreheads. It was interesting to see these students warm to him based on their common faiths. The tone of the room quickly changed though when he began to ask us how we interact with homeless people. Specifically, he asked us whether we always, sometimes, or never give money to panhandlers. Then he asked us why. There were a variety of responses. Those that said they never give generally gave the reason that they were too broke themselves. Those that said they only sometimes give explained that they didn't want to support drug or alcohol habits, they didn't always have cash on hand, or they feared being robbed. Overarchingly though, most people's responses were defensive and angry. People who once felt a kinship towards Schultz now felt attacked by him. It is amazing how powerful one simple question can be. By asking us this, Schultz forced us to address our own unstated prejudices about the homeless population.

So I turn this question to you, gentle readers. Do you give to homeless people asking for money, food, or work? And why or why not?

As for myself, I would say that I generally do. There have been exceptions, for example, when the person asking for money could not keep their balance and smelled strongly of alcohol. At that time, I thought to myself, what good could my charity be for this person right now? In this state, do they really need more alcohol? Thinking about this, I realize my own prejudices. Who is to say the person will use my money for alcohol? Should it matter? I generally feel that when I do give money, whatever the person spends it on is what they feel that they need at that time and it is not for me to judge. So why do I make the exception when they are intoxicated?

After I got home from this class, I talked about the lecture with Cate. She brought to my attention another blog that dealt with this exact same topic. In the post from Nothing But Bonfires, the blogger describes (in a less than sensitive way) an encounter she had with a homeless woman in the entryway of her apartment building. What she did not expect was the rash of comments left by readers who were appalled by her derogatory descriptions of the homeless woman. In response, the blogger left this post. While in her first post, the blogger did use the offensive rhetoric of "crack whore," she attempted to redeem herself in her second post by acknowledging something Schultz also emphasized - that the worst thing a person/group of people can do to another person/group of people is to not recognize their existence.