My church put on a Christmas Family festival tonight with all kinds of fun activities. They had a hay ride, a live nativity scene with real people, donkeys, sheep, and even a llama. They had dinner, carolers, cookies and a silent auction. They had purses, cards and much more made by ex-prositutes in India for sale and they had a stand collecting old camping gear for the local homeless.
I have helped out in many ways for many events but this one was a first for me. I was asked to “play a homeless teen” to help Homeless Gear raise awareness and collect warm cloths and gear for the homeless teens in the area. It was quite the experience! I dressed in a beanie, hoodie, old jeans, and my dad’s old jacket and held a sign that read “Please Help! I have no home. Must live outside all year. Please help me eat and stay warm. 17 and trying to survive.”I was briefed before we started on some facts about homeless teens. I was atonished by the things I learned.
1) The average age for a homeless person in Colorado is 9 years old.
2) There are 900 students in Poudre School District (Fort Collins) that are considered homeless.
3) Children under the age of 18 are not allowed to stay in a homeless shelter so most are left to sleeping on the streets
I couldn’t believe the things that I was learning, but these are no where near to the craziest things that I learned. Tonight I got a glimpse of what it feels like to be a homeless person.
I could not believe it, but I guess our costumes worked because over half the people truly thought I was homeless. People would come up and ask me “Are you really homeless?” I held a can with a couple dollars in it as part of the costume. Parents would stand about 10 feet back and send their children up to put a couple dollars in my can. People made big arcs around our table so they didn’t have to talk to me or smell me maybe. No one would look me in the eyes and I felt like a burden to everyone. I could just hear them saying in there heads“I can’t believe this homeless kid had the nerve to come into our nice church and hold up a sign during our Christmas event. How rude! Get a job!” The worst part about it for me was not how others treated me but how I felt inside. The first thing I wanted to do was tell everyone that I wasn’t homeless. That I worked for the Church. That I had a job. That I was successful. The saddest part was when people looked at me the way they did all I wanted to do was tell them that it wasn’t what it seems. That I was better than that. That they shouldn’t feel sorry for me or look down on me cause I was just like them. That it was all an act….
I got a glimpse of what it feels like to be homeless. I got to experience the way people look at you, the way people treat you. I found out that I have a lot of pride left in me. That I must still care what people think of me. Tonight was an eye opening experience.
I have been blessed. I grew up in a loving family who was able to provide for me. In a family that loved me, cared for me, taught me right and wrong, and taught me about Jesus. I grew up in a beautiful home and have always had food on the table. I am blessed.
Tonight I was humbled once more and now have one more thing to add to the list of prayers. When the temperature drops at night and I grab for the extra comforter I will be praying for the homeless. Not just the “drunk old veterans with signs” that we most often think about but the teenagers and young children on the streets. I will pray for warmth and protection. I will pray that they will be connected with foster parents and a warm home or at least with the kind people from Homeless gear so they have what they need to survive another night.
