far as I can ascertain, almost every culture has some variation of the
“golden rule” – behave toward others the way you would like them to
behave toward you.
This
being the case, I have to ask: if you were the one who was homeless,
how would you want the rest of the community to treat you?
I’m
a strong believer in “what goes around, comes around.” So, think about
the way you behave toward the homeless. If the shoe were on the other
foot, would you want to be treated that same way?
For
some, being treated the same way would be of no consequence since they
behave toward the homeless with compassion, mercy and kindness. But for
those who treat the homeless with scorn, disdain and contempt – I’m
willing to be they’d be the first ones to cry “foul” if they were
treated in a similar fashion. They’d be the ones who would complain the
loudest at how disgustedly they were being treated.
Why should we help the homeless?
What
if suddenly you found yourself without a home and you were unable to
get some form of assistance through any of the homeless support service
agencies? With the lack of adequate funding available for these agencies
these days, that’s a high probability. Or, what if you “fell between
the cracks” and didn’t qualify for certain types of assistance? Wouldn’t
you like the rest of the community to give you a hand up?
Why should we help the homeless?
What
if you were a single mother with dependant children? And, what if you
had no place to leave your children during the day so that you could go
out and look for employment? What if one of your children became ill and
needed medical treatment? Or, what if you were the one who became sick?
Who would care for your children if your illness required you to be
hospitalized? Would you want your children taken away from you and
placed into a Child Protective Services facility – and then not know
whether you’d be able to get them back?
Why should we help the homeless?
What
if you were a senior citizen with on-going medical needs? What if you
had to choose between paying rent or paying for your prescribed
medications? Medi-Cal and/or Medicare simply doesn’t cover all the
costs. Paying the rent would keep you housed, but then you wouldn’t have
your medications. Paying for your medications might force you into
homelessness.
Why should we help the homeless?
What
if you were a husband and father who was one of the 260,000 persons
nationally whose jobs have been cut just since the beginning of this
year and your home had gone into foreclosure or you couldn’t pay the
rent and had faced eviction? Wouldn’t you want someone to step up and
help you so that you could get your family off of the streets?
Why should we help the homeless?
What
if you were one of nearly half a million homeless veterans who have
served this nation; someone who has fought to protect the freedoms that
everyone in this nation enjoys? Wouldn’t you want, at the very least, to
be helped – if not for your humanity – then at least for the sacrifices
you’ve made?
Why should we help the homeless?
How about for the most simplest – and most noble – of reasons: because it’s the right thing to do?
http://slohomeless.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/why-help-the-homelesss
