It's Personal

A few nights ago, I found myself yet again sitting in the car downtown. It was just after 2 in the morning, and everything was dying down. I hadn't had any other passenger requests for about 30 minutes, and was waiting to see if I would get any late night stragglers from some of the nearby diners. I pulled up in front of the Red Martini, and stood waiting outside of my car for another request. Nearby were several employees from at least two of the nearby bars, and walking around them was a homeless man. What I saw disgusted me.

I mentioned in my first post here that I was homeless at one point in my life. It was the most difficult challenge I have ever faced, and even today I still have emotional problems stemming from that period of my life. It's not an easy situation to be in, and I wouldn't wish it upon even my worse enemy in the world. The way you get treated when you are homeless can go three ways: one, you may get treated as if you're an addict who needs Jesus in your life. And maybe that is the case for some out there, but not all. Two, you're treated with scorn and distaste, almost as if your very presence is not welcome in any place you go to. Three, you may actually get treated with compassion and dignity. It all depends on where you are at. In the area I lived in, it was like I didn't even exist at all. One of the shelters I spent a night at fell into the first category. I was simply trying to eat when one of the staff came up to me, offering me a spot in their drug and alcohol program. The tone this man used when talking to me was the same one a person would use when talking to a child. Needless to say, that kind of treatment didn't go over well with me, and I never again went back to this place. Still others in this particular city just wrote me off as though I wasn't human. It's no small wonder many on the streets end up turning to drugs or alcohol. Being homeless sucks.

This brings me back to the other night. There I was in my car, and watching this man, who may have been on some sort of substance or quite possibly mentally ill (the latter seemed to be the case). He kept walking around this group of people, exchanging hostile words with the security guard in the midst of this group. He kept daring this guard to come hit him, and just throwing out a litany of insults. Again, this individual was very likely a mentally ill person - I had certainly seen enough of it back in Grand Rapids, but at least there they had several non-profit places that offered treatment for men like this guy free of charge. This guard, if he could truly be called that, was replying with an equal barrage of insults. There was one that really got to me, though: "Go on home! Oh, that's right, you don't have a home!" This guard then laughed after saying this. For a brief moment, I considered saying something to this gentleman about that statement. I considered saying to him to go easy on the guy, let the police at least handle it. They at least have a team that is trained specifically to handle homeless issues here in Colorado Springs. Another part of me also considered asking him if he would do the same had he known I was on the streets at one point in time, too. Witnessing things like that, and knowing what it's like to live on the streets...honestly, to me, that's what I would call getting personal.

For the homeless here in Colorado Springs, there exist few options for housing. There is only one shelter that is open year round, and it is almost always at full capacity for both men and women. The staff there have touted some minor measures of success in helping shelter occupants to obtain a job and a home of their own, but the reality of the matter is that most of the people who rotate in and out of this place suffer from a plethora of issues: disabilities stemming from medical problems, mental health issues or even addiction. Two other shelters are seasonal: the first, Springs Rescue Mission, does offer a long-term drug and alcohol treatment program, but like many other places, it is frequented by the same individuals over and over again - their cold-weather shelter can hold maybe 35 individuals at best, and is open for a brief window of time from November to April. Many of these individuals are, of course, homeless, and have no real job prospects out there. They have nothing to offer to a world that refuses to see any remote potential in them. The other cold-weather shelter, operated by the Salvation Army, can house up to 150 people, but again is closed for much of the year. What real options, again, do these people have for housing?

The next problem is that once they are back on the streets during warmer months, there is little in the way for them as far as housing is concerned. The year-round shelter here actually forbids people from working at day labor jobs, which the staff there openly says is not "real work". Damn the fact that the only real job prospects many in Colorado Springs have is within minimum wage, part time fast food jobs or retail jobs. Once you're on the streets, almost every employer out there views you as unreliable simply because you do not have a place to call home. And even with the Marion House Soup Kitchen allowing people to use their place as a forwarding address for the homeless, that address, once pulled up in a background check by potential employers, is viewed as a huge red flag. Given the city's five plus year ban on camping, and more recent efforts by city officials to ban the homeless from at least trying to sleep on a park bench, it becomes obvious that Colorado Springs is a city that refuses to acknowledge that homelessness exists, almost seemingly equating it to a crime, despite the efforts of the Homeless Outreach Team with CSPD (admittedly it has to be said that reports exist of CSPD simply purchasing bus tickets to other cities for the homeless - such actions do not solve a thing).

On the question of jobs, yes, it is true that there is work to be found out there. But, as touched upon in the previous paragraph, most of the jobs one could find in this city primarily are within fast food and retail, both of which pay little and offer few hours (thanks partly to employers not wanting to give benefits to employees). And as the cost of living continues to skyrocket, partially due to the influx of people from other states due to marijuana being legal in Colorado, this puts a further squeeze on those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. One would have to work three or four jobs just to be able to make a stable living, but with most places being inflexible with their hours and those offered by a second job, what is a person truly left with? A life spent sleeping on different couches in different homes every few weeks, rotated between cheap hotels and shelters? And still, individuals comprising both of the above categories are told by our elected leaders to simply work harder, and nowhere more than right here in Colorado Springs.

All of what I just discussed above nearly came to a head for me the other night, as I watched the interaction between that security guard and that homeless man. A homeless man who, for his efforts, almost got pepper sprayed. Who, because absolutely no real resources exist in the city to treat whatever mental health problems he might have, nearly met the business end of a taser. I cannot stand attacks on the homeless. I cannot stand those who insult and demean them. To me, such things are personal. Because I too was homeless, and I want a world where such a problem doesn't exist.