Who Cares?

What The Homeless Really, Really Need and Why They'll Never Get It

By Joe Bob Briggs

May/June 2007

Back in the eighties, some of the Doorkeepers in East Dallas started taking in homeless people, under the theory that if they started saying, "Hey, bud, come on in and sleep in the house," then other people would notice and start doing the same thing.

Apparently not.

We're actually coming up on the 20-year anniversary of the Great Homeless Experiment, and all that happened is that East Dallas became a Homeless Mecca.

The government hasn't done diddly squat. The churches haven't done doo-doo.

They've had 19 jillion Home B.O. cable-TV specials, and we've got more homeless people than when they started.

It was called The Dallas Project. It didn't work. Nobody was interested. Homeless people take up your time. They have bad teeth. A lot of 'em have hassles with the law, or they're sick, or they're trying to kick a drug habit, or they're trying to find a lawyer to handle their divorce. They need rides all the time. They're hard to talk to. They're secretive. Sometimes they pick up and leave in the middle of the night, and it makes you feel weird.

So most people—who think they wanna help the homeless—don't really wanna help the homeless.

This failed scheme was administered by the public nonprofit Trinity Foundation, which runs this here magazine, and here's what they learned:

Numero Uno: Nobody wants to know or hear about the homeless. If "homeless" is in the headline on this article, then 80 percent of you have already turned the page.

Numero Two-o: We don't need more government money for the homeless. The people who work for the government treat the homeless like beggars.

Numero Three-o: We don't need any more of those "Christian shelters" in the middle of downtown. The way that works is you show up in the morning, sit through a sermon or whatever the place is selling, then collect the goods—either food, or clothing, or transportation. In other words, you go to listen to what the place is preaching, then, as a reward, you get the stuff. If it's a "Christian" shelter, you oughta get the stuff no matter whether you listen or not. This is why homeless people are the most cynical people in America.

Numero Four-o: There's two kinds of shelters—the kind that make you leave at five in the afternoon, and the kind that make you leave at eight in the morning. Day shelters and night shelters. This is supposed to be so you don't stay there too long. Homeless people have already been kicked out of a lot of places. They're not looking for some situation where they get kicked out as a way of life.

Numero Five-o: Most homeless don't need money. Unless you can give 'em $50,000 a year for the rest of their lives, money's not gonna make any difference. This is why these big fundraising drives are so sick. All they do is raise money to build up another bureaucracy.

Numero Six-o: Ten percent of the homeless prefer being homeless. The other 90 percent lost their job, then moved in with a relative. Then there was a crisis. (Typical crisis: Somebody in the homeless family wrecks the family car.) The relative got mad and kicked them out on the street. Believe it or not, this is as hard on the relative as it is on the family that gets kicked out.

Numero Seven-o: Almost all homeless people need medical attention, especially dental work. Being homeless makes your body start to break down. The only way they can get free medical care is if some non-homeless person raises hell with a doctor or a hospital and makes somebody feel ashamed enough to provide it. The government won't do this for you. The shelter will ask you to come back on Sunday night when the nurse is on duty. Only a living, breathing angry person can do this. (It's actually easier than you think, once you get into the doctor's office.)

Numero Eight-o: Almost all homeless people need legal help. They owe money. They need to file bankruptcy. Or they're going through a divorce. Free legal services are either non-existent or a joke. Once again, they need a living, breathing, angry person, but this time they need an even angrier one, because lawyers will come up with 10,000 self-righteous reasons why they don't have time for it.

Numero Nine-o: Churches are the worst. There was a time when churches would allow the homeless to sleep in their sanctuaries. Not any more. Churches have "programs." All the "programs" involve the church member giving money, so that the church member never has to actually see the homeless person. Many churches have a policy that their "social welfare" programs are only available to ... members of that church!

Numero Ten-o: Unless you have personally taken a homeless person into your house, you're not an expert on the homeless. This rules out almost all the government employees, most of the preachers, all the lawyers, all the doctors. This rules me out. I haven't done it. I'm guilty. But I'm not gonna pretend anymore. I've given money to charities. But I'm not gonna do it anymore, because I know this much:

They don't need money. They need us.

speaking as a person who is one step away from homelessness, I'd say the article is on target

*sigh*

I'm going to tell on myself because I feel like a complete jerk. I posted this article, not to make anyone feel ashamed, but to bring some awareness to the current situation. I am just as guilty as the next person, maybe even more so. And I don't know what to do about it, I just know something needs to be done.

(Sidenote to God: oh, You're Hilarious.)

When did I post this article? Two days ago?

Last night, I received a phone call from Tom, asking me for help. Tom is a chronic homeless person I've known for 5 years. Tom's getting kicked out from yet another mission, only this isn't really a mission he's been staying at. It's more like a hut, with no bathroom, no electricity and he uses the garden hose to shower. Long, long story short, he wanted me to come pick him up from where he was and take him downtown to yet another mission, one he hasn't been booted from yet. and I feel like a complete ass because my first instinct was to say no. It was my second instinct, too. And my third. I thought about this article and then I felt even worse because there was just no way I was going to go out there, at night, alone and get him. You can call it wisdom, but I'm not sure that's what it is. I've walked thru some extremely rough places, alone, in the middle of the night and I've never been so much as threatened. But last night, for the very first time, I felt afraid and I don't know why. Tom's been to my house before, not to sleep, but to visit. I've been alone, during the day before with him, taken him places, and helped him many times....and suddenly, I'm not willing to help him.

I'm not telling you this for any purpose other than to illustrate the fact that I am just as guilty as the next person.

And it breaks my heart.

BTM, it was probably your intuition or higher self telling you not to help him for whatever reason. Maybe you avoided being robbed or killed, maybe God wants him to stand on his own two feet. Who knows? If its out of character for you, don't feel guilty. He chose this path whether conciously or not.

BTM, Again, here is the same theme of reasons for everything......when you get feelings of that nature, it is best to listen to them, and I'm glad you did. There's no telling what would've happened had you gone. Do not feel like a jerk because you listened to what you were being told. Had you not listened, something else would've happened to prevent you from going.

There is a lesson for you in what has happened...what exactly that lesson is for you alone to figure out.

Thanks for your input. I'm still sad about it, not because of my inaction, but because of my thoughts about Tom. Frankly, I had an amazing lack of compassion for him, and that's the truth. I just wanted to shake him and yell,

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself?"

I have an update on Tom!

He called last night to tell me that he got a job! It's interesting timing too. If I had "helped" him, he wouldn't have been where he was supposed to be to secure employment. The only form of help I did offer him previously, was to call this little place I knew of that takes in the people that the other missions will not accept. It's run by a beautiful lady who lived many years on the street as a prostitute. She's amazing and she runs the place in a manner designed to meet the needs of the homeless. She's been there and knows the score, unlike most of the other missions. They were going to take him in, but as it turns out, it's not necessary, for the moment.

Tom did want something from me though. He wanted me to adopt his cats. He has two, and they've been with him for a year now. Unfortunately, I'm highly allergic to cats, so I had to say no. Now he's worried about them and I pray to God he doesn't use them as an excuse to not take the job he was offered.

I was somewhat lovingly harsh with him, but I told him to stay out of the bars and stay straight this time, I told him this was his opportunity to get it right. The reason he was getting kicked out of the mission he was now in was because he and some of the other guys took the mission's van to the bar and they all went in and got drunk, then drove the van back to the mission. lol. When the director of the mission found out about it, well, .... no suprise there what happened next. Anyway, I tried a little tough talk with Tom about it, hopefully he'll listen. Hope springs eternal.

Spring, I know what you are saying about people just wanting to be homeless. I've always maintained that homelessness is an inward condition that has manifested in outward circumstances. I'm not out to change anyone's circumstances, I'm out to change their minds about themselves, about who they really are. I like to think that I bring some form of dignity back to their lives by letting them know that someone loves them and cares about them simply because they exist. I truly believe each person on this planet has worth and value. When I first started going out on the street, God told me to learn names, so I did. Each person I met, I learned their name and used it often. Sometimes I would look up the meaning of their names and give them a slip of paper with the meaning written on it. I think it was Dale Carnegie who said that the sweetest sound to any person is the sound of their own name.

At one point, after I had been going out on the street for several years, I ran into a man I hadn't seen in about two years or so. When I greeted him by his name, 'James,' he began sobbing and I do mean sobbing. Gigantic tears were rolling down his cheeks and he said, "I can't believe you remembered my name." That was an awesome opportunity for me to be able to tell him that he had value as a human being and his name was worth remembering. I told him it was God Himself that knew James' name, because James was important to God. Maybe that one little seed of love changed things for him. I haven't seen him on the street since that day. And trust me when I say that everything I have learned has been directly from God himself, I couldn't take credit for it if I wanted to. When I'm among the homeless, God fills me with this incredible overflowing love that amazes me. It's like I'm not even there. In those moments, I don't even exist, except as a conduit for his Love. And guess what? He will use anyone for that purpose, anyone that is willing to go.

Do I get frustrated? You bet. Am I a saint? Hell no. lol. Sometimes, because I get such a blessing out of it, I wonder if I'm doing it more for me than anyone else. And on some level, that is true. What I do to and for another, in essence, I do to and for myself.

That was a beautiful thing you did for that man, Spring, I'm sorry for the way it turned out. I had a similar experience with a woman we took in, a woman and her daughter. In her case, I ended up having to throw her out. I was willing to let the daughter stay, but of course, the woman wouldn't hear of it. She dragged that poor girl down to the city mission, which is a horrible, nasty place. In the end, I ended up having to track down the girl's father and he went and got her away from the woman, who ultimately ended up in the insane asylum.

I did take in one other person, a young pregnant girl whose boyfriend had been murdered in front of her just days prior to my meeting her. Because of the trauma she had experienced, she was acting out and got kicked out of the city mission. I drove her around for hours, to every mission I knew of, trying to find a place to do an intake after 9 pm. I couldn't find any place to take her, so I had to take her home with me. She bolted the next day. Turns out she was a huffer and she ended up losing the baby because of her addiction. Sad.

The flip side of that coin is, I've seen many get off the street, too. I've seen people turn their lives around, and it all started with them changing their minds about who they are. The sad fact is though, once a thought pattern has been established in a person's mind, it is incredibly difficult to change it. It's not impossible, though. And some people don't want to be any different. It's their safety net. That's all they know and it is a safe place for them. All we can do is love them.

I wish I had more answers to the problem. It is getting worse each year. The only answer I have, is Spring's tag line.

Love is the answer. That's all I know to do.

Be The Miracle, please check out www.emofree.com. Its an easy free technique that you use on yourself or others. It has been used to cure allergies, phobias, PTSD, trauma physical ailments as well as host of other things. You can download the manual for free and if you choose to order the DVD's they are very inexpensive. You could use it to get over your allergy to cats and teach Tom and others to use it for themselves to get over whatever emotional block it is that's keeping them in their current situations. I hope you will at least take a look at it.

I know this isn't going to sound very loving and spiritual, but did you ever feel like knocking someone upside the head? lol

Tom called. Insert BIG SIGH here. For your benefit I'll make a long story short, but I got the extended play, complete with every excuse known to mankind and then some version, he managed to lose the job before he even started. He claims he couldn't get there. This man who has walked the entire state of Oklahoma practically, says he didn't have a way to get there. I guess he forgot to look down and notice his two very capable feet.

He aggrevates me so much, because I think deep down, I really sense that he wants help, he wants to be different, he's just stuck in old patterns and he doesn't know how to break free. Anyway, please pray for him. I'm going to take a time out later and go to my own little wailing wall and pray for him. It will look something like this...