It was a cold night in November. There I lie, huddled up in my car hoping that I wouldn't run out of gas before morning. I would turn my car off anytime I woke up for thirty minutes or so, or at least until I started to shiver. I couldn't wait until summer, when I could sleep under the stars knowing that at least I wouldn't freeze to death.
I like to think about issues with homelessness. Being under 18 and ineligible for most assistance programs in my area, I knew that I had to work or die. Period. I worked. I got another job, and worked some more. I finally got a house, and later enough money to live comfortably- all within 6 months. I had never been as proud as the day I moved into the one-bedroom duplex. It was next to an abandoned house full of snakes and rats. Meth labs and drug dealers were not strangers to the area. I even set back aside to buy a fuzzy poster for my room and an $8 yard sale dining set. The kitchen was so small that the oven door wouldn’t open all the way. Nobody helped me. The only assistance I had was the drive to survive, to become educated, and to feel safe. My duplex was a haven to someone who had nothing, a palace. Nobody could tell me to leave or kick me out unless I didn’t pay my rent. I was free. One day I came home after work and just sat, admiring the what I had earned. In that moment, I knew that there was more out there. I had a taste of the high life, and I wanted more. Some argue we need more assistance programs, others say we shouldn't do anything at all. Where do I sit on the spectrum? In the middle. I can't decide.
I wonder if I ever would have went to college if my town would have had a homeless shelter, better housing assistance, or programs to help people get back on their feet. I was in a sink or swim situation, and I chose to swim. It wasn’t easy. So what happens when we turn this situation into a swim, sink, or chill on this yacht for free until you’re ready to swim situation? How many people will take the initiative to use the yacht to get back to land and earn their own, and how many will simply take advantage of the free ride for as long as they can? After being in such a difficult situation, I probably would have stayed on the yacht as long as I could rather than risk losing it all. If we take the sink or swim approach, how many people will drown? There's not an easy answer. Is there a balance between the two? Should I have to give up part of my yacht that I earned to help someone who chose not to do so alone? I don't know. I don't like the idea, but I don't like to see people sink either. If I had the yacht option, would I have seen it as the temporary fix it was designed to be, or would I have seen it as a permanent solution to the much worse world I had been in? When you're down and out, anything seems like paradise. Perhaps we should just throw the person a life preserver and show them what the shore looks like, or do we go all out, offer the yacht, and only hope that the victim uses it as a temporary answer? What happens when he or she wants to ride forever? Do we push them all back into the water? How long does the free ride last, and what happens when the boat is too full?
These are my thoughts on assistance to the homeless. I’m still torn.
Perception is everything.
