“We have weapons of mass destruction we have to address here at home. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction.” ~Dennis Kucinich
At my favorite local coffee shop, I sit by the front window on Sheffield. Directly across the street is Jonquil Park. A few days ago I was talking with a friend, around 7:45 in the morning, and she pointed out there there were four homeless men sleeping in the park. Two were on a berm on the far side, one was on a berm near Sheffield, and the fourth was on a park bench. We expressed concern for children wanting to play in the park, although other people were using the park--staying away from the sleeping men. We even expressed concern for the men. What we didn’t have were answers to the problem of homelessness.
Another issue came up last week when a favorite coffee shop, Panera’s, was closed for a few days to be converted into a Panera Cares. This is only the fourth such shop in the country. The concept is pay-what-you-can: there are no cash registers and no prices on the menu; instead, there are “suggested” prices and donation boxes; you drop in whatever you can afford to pay, or choose to pay. If you have no money at all, you can work at cleaning in the shop for an hour for your food. According to the news reports on Panera Cares, all of them are making a profit, in spite of the radical pricing structure--and all profits go to social services organizations in the area. My rash comment about the change at Panera’s: “It will become Homeless Central.” That was a remark I regretted as soon as I said it and still regret. At the same time, there is an element of truth in it, which is doing battle with my conscience.
There are many homeless people in Chicago, as there are in all big cities. Unfortunately, the term “homeless” only begins to describe these souls. Are they drug abusers? Alcoholics? Mentally ill? Are they lazy, as many seem to think, or are they there through no circumstances of their own? I’ve seen a man begging on the L, dragging a child along with him; yet what was their relationship and their situation? The answers are not easy to come by, and I certainly don’t have any. I never give to beggars, but I often buy Streetwise, the homeless magazine sold by former homeless persons. I donate to the Chicago Food Bank, but I won’t drop a penny into the cups of the men and women sitting downtown, usually with some handmade sign declaring their problems. Are any of those signs true? How are we passersby to know?
Even the government seems at a loss as to what to do. A few days ago a homeless man was sleeping in Jonquil Park. Some city workers were mowing and said something to the man, who apparently cussed them out. They called the police. Within minutes there were seven police cars there, the man had been handcuffed and thrown to the ground, surrounded by a gaggle of cops, and within minutes hauled off. Surely such a massive show of force was unnecessary. And yet should the worker have to deal with that abuse?
Lots of questions. Very few answers. And I believe it going to get worse before it gets better: there is a trend in the government and with people in general to blame the victim, and I only see that getting worse. It’s so much easier to blame the homeless then to work on actual solutions to the problem.
At my favorite local coffee shop, I sit by the front window on Sheffield. Directly across the street is Jonquil Park. A few days ago I was talking with a friend, around 7:45 in the morning, and she pointed out there there were four homeless men sleeping in the park. Two were on a berm on the far side, one was on a berm near Sheffield, and the fourth was on a park bench. We expressed concern for children wanting to play in the park, although other people were using the park--staying away from the sleeping men. We even expressed concern for the men. What we didn’t have were answers to the problem of homelessness.
Another issue came up last week when a favorite coffee shop, Panera’s, was closed for a few days to be converted into a Panera Cares. This is only the fourth such shop in the country. The concept is pay-what-you-can: there are no cash registers and no prices on the menu; instead, there are “suggested” prices and donation boxes; you drop in whatever you can afford to pay, or choose to pay. If you have no money at all, you can work at cleaning in the shop for an hour for your food. According to the news reports on Panera Cares, all of them are making a profit, in spite of the radical pricing structure--and all profits go to social services organizations in the area. My rash comment about the change at Panera’s: “It will become Homeless Central.” That was a remark I regretted as soon as I said it and still regret. At the same time, there is an element of truth in it, which is doing battle with my conscience.
There are many homeless people in Chicago, as there are in all big cities. Unfortunately, the term “homeless” only begins to describe these souls. Are they drug abusers? Alcoholics? Mentally ill? Are they lazy, as many seem to think, or are they there through no circumstances of their own? I’ve seen a man begging on the L, dragging a child along with him; yet what was their relationship and their situation? The answers are not easy to come by, and I certainly don’t have any. I never give to beggars, but I often buy Streetwise, the homeless magazine sold by former homeless persons. I donate to the Chicago Food Bank, but I won’t drop a penny into the cups of the men and women sitting downtown, usually with some handmade sign declaring their problems. Are any of those signs true? How are we passersby to know?
Even the government seems at a loss as to what to do. A few days ago a homeless man was sleeping in Jonquil Park. Some city workers were mowing and said something to the man, who apparently cussed them out. They called the police. Within minutes there were seven police cars there, the man had been handcuffed and thrown to the ground, surrounded by a gaggle of cops, and within minutes hauled off. Surely such a massive show of force was unnecessary. And yet should the worker have to deal with that abuse?
Lots of questions. Very few answers. And I believe it going to get worse before it gets better: there is a trend in the government and with people in general to blame the victim, and I only see that getting worse. It’s so much easier to blame the homeless then to work on actual solutions to the problem.
The frustrations of recognizing a problem and doing something constructive to resolve them plague us all. This is a thinking-man's blog, and there are far too few thinking men.
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