And Now for Something Different...

    Wait, what??  This off-the-cuff post will be one of those magic tricks, a now-you-see-it, now-you-don't sort of thing because in a few short days its localized holiday plea with have passed; but I did it this way so that I could bring up a few local issues, even as the larger issue is something that is happening worldwide, that of the state of homelessness.  In the U.S., the actual homeless "count" is said to have gone down according to a piece in U.S. News & World Report, although that still means over 550,000 people out on the street.  And my state of Utah is no exception, despite our often cold winters and temporary bed space in shelters now dropping.  But all is not lost as reported last year in The Week: Many experts believe the best solution is to simply put the homeless into low-cost or free apartments, without preconditions.  Utah, which has a "Housing First" strategy, has one of the nation's lowest rates of chronic homelessness.  Just 6 percent of the state's homeless are considered chronic --people who have been living on the streets for more than a year-- compared with 24 percent nationwide.  Evidence suggests that programs like Utah's are far more cost-effective than putting homeless people in transitional housing.  One Colorado study found that the average homeless person costs taxpayers $43,000 a year in shelters, emergency-room visits, and other expenses, while providing permanent housing for the same person would cost $17,000 a year.  The bigger issue is likely that of numbness, the homeless "crisis" now turning many of us as apathetic as the climate "crisis."  Both are real, but think of your own reaction when passing someone in the street, someone who appears homeless; what is your initial reaction?  If they're curled up in a corner asleep, do you even look; and if you do glance over what thoughts, if any, run through your mind.  If you turn a corner and see a panhandler or a person pushing a shopping cart filled with battered things, do you perhaps unconsciously clutch your pocket or purse or cross the street?  And if the person is just there, not asking, not doing much of anything but in need, do you even make eye contact?  If you feel even a tinge of guilt at your answers then there is still hope because you haven't become totally apathetic.  Your compassion may be on guard and your looks shortened as you casually drive or walk by, but there are so many it seems.  Almost too many.  But take a quick peek at a few of the faces of people who are homeless in Western Australia and see if these images are who you would picture as "homeless."  One homeless person I gave a lift to was a former Marine, a machinist once successful and owning his own die-cutting tools but now out on the street.  His quote to me: If you would have asked me if I ever thought --me, a goddamn Marine-- would ever be lving on the street, I would have told you no...not in a million years.

    Homelessness exists, for whatever reason partially because many of those people who become homeless have a varied history way beyond a simple explanation.  For many of the homeless that I have either talked with or dealt with, the ages have varied from late teens to women nearing 60, and from immigrants to former factory workers.  People who work at the site where I help out on Sunday mornings tell me that in general, the homeless have dulled their taste buds, be it from alcohol or drugs or poor food, so they crave sugar and salt and spicy items such as hot peppers; not all mind you, but many.  Something else "dulled" might be in they're having a person to listen to their story, or a simple acknowledgment that they're still a person, still human and not a piece of "trash" to be hidden or discarded.  One of the better articles on helping the homeless came from Mother Nature Network in 2015, saying among other recommendations to "show some respect."  We could use that advice even among our fellow citizens and neighbors and perhaps especially among those with whom we might disagree.  But the bottom line is that as much as we might try to deny it, it could happen to us...hidden in the shadows are so many living on just a thread, just a paycheck away from being unable to pay the rent or feed their children or get treated for that chronic cough or maybe even wash their clothes or freshen up.  And of course, despite your best intentions to help, the best thing you can do if you're just starting out might be to just ask or donate to those people and organizations actually working with the homeless population.  Ages ago, a friend who owned a clothing shop asked me to hand out hundreds of her company's donated wool socks and beanie hats to the homeless during one of my weekly trips (people often forget that socks and underwear are two of the largest clothing items needed for both sexes and for children); but before I could even start, the organizers at the outdoor shelter asked me to let them do it.  Why?  They told me that they knew which people truly needed those items and which would just take them and possibly try to sell or trade them off for something else.  It was a good lesson.  My own policy has always been that when I physically encounter someone who is homeless and they ask for money I tell them that while I never give out money I will instead take them somewhere of their choosing and treat them to a meal.  I have sat down with many a homeless person and heard their stories; but an equal number have thanked me but turned down the offer (they just wanted money).  But as one former homeless person said in the Australian video mentioned above,  "people don't know how to help you, and you don't know how to ask for help."

    Here in the U.S. the Thanksgiving holiday is just a week or so away (the fourth Thursday of each November), a time when people travel (consistently the most traveled holiday for airlines), families gather together, the orange and red leaves of fall are well underway to being covered with a light dusting of snow, and warm kitchens smell of turkey and mashed potatoes and sage stuffing and fresh cranberry sauces, all followed by slices of pumpkin pie buried under whipped cream or ice cream.  It all accompanies and perhaps overshadows the actual meaning, that of the time being set aside to be thankful, to be in that particular home surrounded by family or friends and anxiously awaiting a chance to "eat, drink, and be merry."  It is also a time (similar in this respect to Christmas) where many people feel a tinge of guilt and take a minute or so to think of those less fortunate, perhaps because of all the many groups and non-profits blitzing your mailboxes asking for help or a donation (and the majority of them actually do need the help); and of course what better way to help those shelters and those now hitting hard times than by volunteering at a shelter or a food kitchen?  But even with all those honest and heartfelt intentions, here's what I've found has happened at the outdoor shelter during such holidays: people take the time and diligently arrive at the shelter with their warm coats and gloves and perhaps a home baked pie or two, ready and eager to give a few hours dishing out food or handing out clothes, only to find that there are so many other equally well-intentioned volunteers that they're left just standing and waiting and freezing as if --as if-- they were one of the homeless.  I can testify that at the outdoor shelter where I help, this happens year after year on Thanksgiving.  And come Christmas a few weeks later, the logical thinking of many of those volunteers is, "why should I go back down since they had so many helpers on Thanksgiving...may as well just stay home and volunteer next year" with the end result being that virtually nobody shows up to help.  Good intentions all, and the help is truly needed and appreciated, but here are a few thoughts of what's happening this year at the local outdoor shelter I work with (and how it may apply to where you're at)...

    The outdoor shelter where I go to works all year round, serving hot food and coffee/cocoa every Sunday morning.  But volunteer help has plummeted, often down to just a handful of people or so, each dealing with cooking, prepping, and serving anywhere from 250-350 people (itself a drop in numbers from when it used to be nearly 450 each week a few years ago).  Propane is donated (they go through 7 tanks of gas each Sunday), but that is about it.  With such little help, and regular donations having dropped off substantially for whatever reason, the question continues to come up...will they have enough to serve that morning?  So, in the order of need (from what I've been told) here is a quick list:

1) Help -- it's recognized that not everyone can give three or five hours of time on a regular basis, but even an hour now and then would be great; and they need all sorts of help from someone who can set up or take down the PA system, to someone who knows how to deal with the large cooking grills (the regular "chef" now works full time and can't be there so this particular shelter is struggling to make do); there's the serving line, of course, but there's the early prep of sweeping the area and setting up the serving tables, the chopping or preparing of what's been donated (pancake mix, eggs, meats, etc.), the sorting and unsorting of all of the items once all of the food has been served, and later comes the cleanup.  Things start at 7 AM and the last few meals taper off around 11 AM, although on holidays the to-go plated portions begin to be assigned for delivery so the time stretches out to a bit later (they make deliveries to about 350 people who can't be there to get a hot meal and always need help getting those portioned plates ready and bagged).  If you can't physically make it, perhaps an even bigger help would be to use your social media contacts to ask for others who could make it down there...

2) Clothing -- winter is arriving here in my area so washed and cleaned donated warm clothing of all sizes is needed; this can be anything from hoodies to warm socks, but coats, jackets and even fancy overcoats, are welcome.  Families need everything from diapers to toddler and children's outfits, and it doesn't matter the size or sex as the clothes are sorted and distributed to men, women and children in need. Even such things as slightly used bath towels, washcloths, blankets and throws.  It's difficult to imagine but picture yourself now entering your 30th day on the street; what shape would your clothes be in, how would you smell or appear, what things would you want?  New items always in demand include: toothbrushes, underwear, shaving razors, personal soaps, small toys, writing pens, postage stamps (the facility tries to provide writing tablets, pens and envelopes so that the homeless can write letters to friends and relatives and have them mailed; many of the letters are sent to those in prison), backpacks and books and basically anything practical which you feel that you would miss if you were in their place and happened to be out on the street (I was told to think of it this way...as a homeless person having to carry everything on you, you're going to be pretty picky about what it is you really want).

3) Food, Money, and Whatever: I lumped all of this together because these things are always needed and needed on a regular basis.  On the holidays, very little meat (turkeys, hams, etc.) actually shows up, as is the case with stuffing.  Things that can be boiled (boxed stuffing) or grilled (cubed steaks, etc.) are great; but an uncooked turkey is wasted (other indoor facilities that have ovens or refrigerators are better suited for such donations).  Pies seems to arrive by the dozens, and sometimes rolls and such; but gravy mixes and the trimmings are always helpful.  Once the holidays are gone they'll need eggs (about 20-25 dozen are used each week) and yes, meats for protein.  Coffee, hot chocolate mix, pancake mix, syrup, disposable cups, plates and cutlery (wasteful but reusable dishes would require another health department permit since this is an outdoor shelter), paper napkins and paper towels, kitchen utensils (sharp knives for cutting and chopping of the food are always needed since the ones used dull quickly), Crisco (yes, it seems to work well for their needs, alongside the regular cooking and cleaning oils), and other things I've likely forgotten are always in short supply.  Put easily, think of the food and items which are for serving people, those who will eat or carry their meal and then toss it; try to think of what can be prepared and dished out in bulk.  And of course, it takes gas money to haul the heavy trucks and cargo vehicles (both of which were donated, as was most of the metal shelving located inside).

    If you've (thankfully) read this far, here's the bottom line.  There are many, many groups out there providing a public help for those whom society might consider as castoffs, both people and animals forgotten or feeling tossed away because of encountering unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances.  A quick online search of volunteer groups or agencies will come close to overwhelming you; and you may likely and honestly feel that you are close to being one of those people in need, or that you simply don't have the time or financial capability to take on one more thing.  And that's totally understandable.  This isn't for everyone; and give full credit to the many folks already out there helping, both the people running the groups and the people diligently volunteering...at the outdoor shelter where I go, the woman running it is 87 years old, and I think she could outlast me in a boxing ring!  If you want to help a cause, any cause, use your social media contacts, organize a fun group-together of a few hours with your friends to help at a soup kitchen or to walk the dogs at the local humane society.  It's a sad commentary about our world that such conditions exist, or have continued to exist, and that so many need help; but it's also a good sign that so many people are still so willing to give of themselves and still wanting to help those people and animals having a difficult time.  As I'm witnessing, the urge to help out ebbs and flows and is understandably stressful for those who have given their all and are puzzled at why things are growing tougher and why people are seemingly less interested.  But somehow they keep going on and work to make it, as if knowing that things will turn around at some point.  It is now, at such times of the year, that our compassionate urge is triggered and that's terrific; but imagine if we felt that way four times a year, or forty times a year, or 300 times a year!  As the classic song by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss (and made famous by Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong), what a wonderful world it would be.  Thanks to all of you, wherever you are in the world and whatever you are doing to help, for making that song inch a little closer to realization...