"Them"

The Homeless.

Others call the people living in the woods off of West Market Street (and many other locations around Bloomington-Normal, but shhh, we don't want publicity to "help" them any more than it already has) "the homeless" as if it is a group of 14 people who have been living there for years. In reality, the people who inhabit these locations are a constantly changing. When we return, I will be shocked if I know any of “our friends” after being gone for this past year. Instead, it will be a handful of new friends to meet and weave into our lives for the time that they want that.

Others assume that they are all sex offenders, all mentally ill, all alcoholics, all lazy, all sloppy and all a threat to us law abiding tax payers. Others would be wrong.

Some people in our town who have found themselves without a home for a time have been some of these things. So have some "homed" people. So have some of my family members, and I bet, so have some of yours. 

I will never make an excuse for anyone's bad choices or bad behavior. In every aspect of my life, from myself to my children to strangers, I have high accountability standards.

I will, however, ALWAYS meet someone where they are and love them there. I will love them until they refuse to be loved any more. I believe it is the only way to live. I believe that when I pray for peace and a better world, that this is the way I can be a part of creating that on earth. I am thankful that there is a group who lives this same way and that we have all been able to work together with relationship as our common goal.

We cannot wait for people to clean up their acts and THEN love them.

The problem with doing ministry this way is that people look at those of us who love our friends and say, “You are STILL working with the homeless? Why haven’t they cleaned up their acts yet?”

The truth is that they have, and they have moved on, and others have come. We have been blessed to be able to continue being a community to all who end up in our paths.

Some other truths that I want Bloomington-Normal to know.

We are told that our town is very well suited for transient people. The way that the interstates all converge on Market St makes it very easy to arrive here and then leave when the time is right. That area is also full of public restrooms and truck stops, so the woods are not full of feces as many seem to imagine.

Simple gestures such as a shower, a haircut, typing a resume, offering an internet connection to apply on-line for a job, or helping someone with less than a 3^rd grade education sign up for GED classes at Heartland Community College have gone a long way in improving our friends’ lives.

Have we given propane and blankets and tarps…Yes.

In the same way that I would feed a child who comes to school hungry before I can expect him to learn anything, our group meets the basic needs of people who we are already in relationship with in order to continue their progress in other areas. The newspaper doesn’t see any of that. The community has no way of knowing that.

It is true that many who we meet have reasons that they are prohibited from staying in local shelters. It is also true that we have met some who choose to live outdoors. Again, the group of people that I work with would be silly to think that we could change any of that. So we don’t. We share meals and we offer friendship. Often that has led to us being in a position to offer advice and point a friend to better options. Sometimes, we have to believe that we have planted a seed. We have been a voice of love and encouragement. We will never know the effects.  

Does someone who has been deemed a sex-offender get less cold in the winter? Does someone who has served time in prison not get hungry? Should we only help them once they have gotten their lives together? No. Often times, we can be the ones who offer the small gesture that sets them on their way to a better life. Even if all we offer them is hope.

Hope is not a small thing.