Vulnerable Populations

Last week, I received a call that once again altered my perceptions on homelessness. Like all leaders in the fight against homelessness, I constantly tell civic clubs and government leaders and anyone else I come in contact with that anyone can become homeless.

But in my heart of hearts, I have never thought that people "like me" were in danger. Tuesday changed all that. A friend reminded me of someone we had known years ago, a woman who had been my co-leader in a Girl Scout troop, who had a high-powered job, membership in several civic organizations, a lovely house down the street maintained in perfect order. She was very conscious of her appearance, and she and her children were always beautifully decked out. To say I was shocked when my friend told me that "Mary" has been homeless almost since the last time I saw her 11 years ago would be putting it mildly indeed.

A few days later I saw Mary for myself. She is covered in open sores, dressed in rags, and had pulled out most of her hair. Colleagues told me she was first found cowering in fear in a tree, following an attack by a group of men who found it amusing to terrorize the homeless woman. My colleagues were unable to get her down, so one of them went up with some breakfast, and spent two hours talking to her. Mary has no idea how she came to be homeless, but she remembers she has children. She hasn't seen her children in 10 years, when the youngest was 14.

Although Mary is no longer coherent enough to tell her story, it isn't hard to guess that it is rooted in mental illness, probably exacerbated by substance abuse, used as a form of self-medication. The tie between mental illness and homelessness is a strong one, and is particularly sad because it can almost always be prevented. The fact that isn't prevented is a sad tribute to the strong stigma still attached to mental disease, and the treatment thereof. And despite the consequences of blaming the victim for the disease, including the ability of government and insurance companies to demand 50% co-pays for therapy as opposed to a 20% co-pay for physical disease, we do it anyway.

Of course, homelessness itself carries an extraordinary stigma, and the shame people feel when they find themselves nearly homeless prevents them from receiving timely and effective help. Even people in "nice" neighborhoods can find themselves falling behind on medical bills, and house payments. They attempt to hide their situation, and juggle debt, to the point that homelessness is no longer out of the question.

Christ said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Judging others, when we can never know the whole story, is not just a character flaw within us, but can have virtually criminal effects on those who are judged unfairly.

This May we will be launching a campaign, "Homeless: It's Not Just Who You Think." Help us carry the message that indeed, people like us can and do become homeless. We are all vulnerable and in need of help. Perhaps it is time to learn to love one another, before it is too late for another homeless mother, child, or brother.