As an advocate for homelessness, I wanted to share a powerful story that I recently came across in the New York Times. The article, written by Tracy Kidder, is about a doctor named Jim O'Connell, who has dedicated his life to caring for the homeless population in Boston. What makes his approach unique is his commitment to listening to the stories of the people he serves.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge was recently interviewed by NPR. In her interview, Secretary Fudge noted that the issues causing homelessness - namely housing affordability and housing discrimination - were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the general public does not even realize the populations that are being hit the hardest.

This month’s Street Story comes from on of our Follow Up Care Coordinators, Zach Winterowd. July was actually Zach’s last month with us as he and his wife Shayna move onto the next phase of their lives back in Texas. His time with us was spent talking with guests to make individualized next steps, or a plan that they can realistically achieve, and then walk alongside them for as long as they need. It might look like helping someone get an ID card to helping a couple get married. (true story!) Zach talks about one need he has seen in almost every person he’s spoken with: the need for human connection.

I called him the “Rolling Prophet.”

Carlito was in a wheelchair when I met him. He was an older man, frail and sick, but all smiles. He had a gray beard and sparkly eyes. He looked a little like Santa Claus if Father Christmas was paralyzed and had to go five rounds with chemotherapy. Carlito usually rolled up to us on his electric chair while we were setting up our weekly outreach in Harlem. He couldn’t help us physically, but he would always greet us with an encouraging word or a blessing from scripture.

I don’t know about you, but my definition of a “miracle” is quite lofty and nearly unattainable. There are only a few times I have truly experienced anything that I would slap a “miracle” sticker on with such a distinguished definition.

“Stop complaining. It can always be worse.”

"You’re not as bad off as the next guy.”

“Suck it up, you’re being too sensitive.”

These phrases take up space in our ear and lead us down a rugged, desolate road. Searching for respite from our solitude, we grasp onto them as truths, when they are simply a temporary band-aid.

One of the questions I get a lot when I do workshops or trainings around the topic of homelessness is, "How do I explain homelessness to my kids?" Usually this question comes from parents who live and work in areas where homelessness is self-evident. Occasionally it comes from parents who are planning a family trip into the city and they want to get out ahead of the inevitable questions that will come up as they walk from point A to point B.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are five things I’ve learned over the last seven years about how to best love my neighbors experiencing homelessness.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Christians justify doing nothing for the poor and the homeless by quoting the words of Jesus found in Mark 14:7: “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.”

Now, besides the obvious irony of using the words of the same man who told the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, the same man who highlighted the significance of the widow’s generosity, and the same man who constantly warned of the dangers of greed, in order to excuse not lifting a finger to help the poor, there is also another fundamental problem

The most common question that I get about homelessness is simply, “what should I do?”

I recently saw a news story about a technological innovation that someone developed in order to try to help folks living in the street of a big city on the West Coast. In it the news anchor said something to the effect of, “This device will help you give money to the homeless without the fear of them using it to buy drugs.” I’m sure the creator of this particular technology is well-intentioned and it’s completely possible that it will end up helping some people along the way, but I guarantee that it will not shift the narrative around homelessness in general.