You may have heard me tell this story many times before but I felt to bring it up again especially during these cold weather months. In Miami-Dade County, FL and even in other U.S. Cities/States - citizens have banned together to push to making it illegal to give homeless people food, money, etc. on the street. The reasoning is because you are aiding someone to both stay in the situation they are in and teaching them they can survive off of the generosity of others. The other issues that were raised included personal safety when being approached by someone with a mental illness, along with, the spreading of sickness and disease from not being able to wash and stay clean on a regular basis.Some of my friends and I share similar views about the plight of homelessness in America. If you are someone who has always felt indifferent or believe it's not something you can relate to, you may want to think again. These past few years alone with the sudden and national spike in joblessness, more families and individuals found themselves seeking emergency shelter and government assistance. In places like Nevada, police are even assigned to patrol "tent cities" where a massive amount of men, women & children live year round.
If you remember what happened in Haiti recently then you are also aware that after tent cities were created and went up, bands of men were moving around during the late night hours amongst these tented communities stealing food, clothes & water and raping children and women of all ages.
Homelessness is a different experience or state of being in the lives of the many men, women and children who do not have a home to go to. Often we are taught to look away, look down or frown upon the plight of others who maybe less fortunate than ourselves. Most people even believe that the homeless population that exists is like a plague.
The truth and reality is that as a society we ourselves have evolved into a plague. We are infected with the disease of selfishness vs selflessness and we are egotistical because deep down inside we are saying that it will never be us in those situations when the reality is that one day it can be any of us in the exact or even worse situation than the people we chose to eradicate from our communities instead of providing assistance or temporary solutions to help those who can and desire to, get back on their feet.
When all of these food drives and requests for donations go around at your job, church or infront of your local store, I urge you to think two, three, four or even five times about whether or not to give because if you take the time out to realize it could be you one day, wouldn't you want the person on the giving end to think and feel the same?
To give or not to give, that is the question.
Written By: Violet B
