How to be "homeless"

A few years ago, one of my work colleagues was telling a story about how she coordinated a Toys for Tots drive.  She collected hundreds of toys from an event, and then apparently forgot to drop the toys off at the donation site.  So she jumped out of bed early one morning, no time to shower, and apparently, as she described herself, wasn't looking too pretty.  She was in old sweats, her hair a mess, and was wearing some old Ugg boots on her feet.  

When this woman pulled into the donation site, one of the volunteers apparently looked at her and said "sorry ma'am, we don't open until noon today," or something to that effect.  The point is, the volunteer mistook my colleague for someone that wanted to pick out toys for her family, instead of someone that was coming to make a donation.

My colleague, and most of my work friends, loved this story.  It was repeated every holiday season, and I am sure it still is.  Everyone thought it was funny that someone that really wasn't homeless could very easily be mistaken for someone that was homeless, based solely on looking disheveled.

Additionally, have you seen the story that went around social media sites, in which a pastor "transformed" himself into a homeless man?  And people treated him completely differently?

Here's my issue with stories like this.  You cannot assume class status or homelessness based on looks.  How does one transform into homeless?  My thought would be to actually sell your house and have nowhere to call home.  But this is not what this pastor did.  This pastor just dressed in "grungy" clothing.

I can tell you that not all homeless people, or not all people in the lower-economic class are grungy.  

When I was in college, I wanted to be a news reporter.  I spent a week in Minneapolis, doing a special feature for my college news channel about homelessness in the city.  I interviewed a lot of people that actually were homeless, and I started to learn a lot more about what it meant to be homeless.  Yes, I will fully acknowledge that some people in this situation did not have the best hygiene or the best clothes.  But there also are reasons for that.  When you don't have a constant place to live, where do you get a consistent shower, sink, or even hygiene items?  

But that is not always the case.  I also met people that were wearing clean clothing, professional clothes, and smelled clean.  I met people that were struggling to find work, a home, and a safe place for their family, but still looked well put together.

Here's my thing.  Never assume someone's situation or class status based on their looks.  You will never know what their situation is, you will never know their circumstance.  There is no look to someone that is homeless.  Everyone looks different, everyone has a different experience.  

I think this look of homelessness also begs a larger issue, in that we can be doing more to help people that do not have a place to live.  In doing my research in Minneapolis, I was able to attend a meeting by the X Committee, who I hope is still in existence today.  This group was started by folks that were homeless, as a way to speak up for themselves and try to make changes and help out other homeless individuals.  In listening to their stories, my biggest take-away was how hard it was to find a job.  Even if someone has a job, it might not be enough to support themselves.  And it's hard to get a job when you can't look socially "presentable" during the interview.  And you have to carry all of your personal belongings into the interview.  The X Committee, when I was there, was working on renting out lockers to folks going on job interviews, just so they didn't have to carry their belongings into a work setting.  This is one very small, but very big improvement that can be made.

There is still a huge social stigma with homelessness.  Society judges people based on their appearance, and based on where they are in life.  I cannot even begin to count how many times people have told me not to feel sorry for homeless people, because they put themselves into that situation.  Regardless of whether that is true or not (and I would argue it hardly ever is), why does it matter?  Social justice isn't about judging people for how they got there, it's about making sure everyone feels like a human being.  And by the way society treats folks that are homeless, I don't believe we are doing a good job.

It's not about just giving people money if they need it.  It's about hearing their stories.  Looking people in the eye, regardless of their situation.  It's about treating people with respect, regardless of what they look like or smell like.  It's about not assuming a person's situation based on their looks, because that just perpetuates a much larger issue in society.  It's about speaking up and fighting these thoughts.

So my challenge to in, in this blog post, is to think about what you are saying when it comes to folks being homeless.  Do you judge based on their appearance?  What does that mean?  Have you ever joked around with your friends and said they look homeless based on their messy appearance?  I challenge you to just stop and think, because you can never assume a person's situation until you actually ask them.  So do it.  If you have questions or assumptions, just ask.