What would happen if there was some sort of pamphlet or handout given to everyone in Chicago with a few pointers? A list of Do's and Dont's when it comes to dealing with street people. Do wish people a nice day, smile and have a short conversation with them. Do ask what their name is and give them yours. Do care. Don't yell at them, belittle them or ignore them.
What if everyone in Chicago stopped, STOPPED, giving people on the street any money? Instead, we would only occasionally buy some coffee or food, but always refer people to some social service agencies. What if this pamphlet had a list of the MANY MANY MANY agencies in Chicago that could help people? Sure, many people on the street know about them, but if they can get a few bucks to take care of whatever they want pan handling, why go into an agency? However, if we ALL referred people to agencies we knew about and we all gave ONE agency FIVE dollars a month....
If we all took the time to do this and care for those that are 'invisible', wouldn't we also maybe care about the people we worked with? Wouldn't we also then probably start to invest in people we know a little more and ask a couple more questions when someone mentions they had a crappy weekend?
May your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth, as it is in heaven
Peace,
2 comments:
Josh and I have had a lot of conversations around this topic. We've arrived at many of the same conclusions as you and Emily, and I'm a big fan of all of your ideas (even the ones we hadn't thought of). Maybe we should do the same thing in Philly. =)
Devin, I was reminded of this post while I was reading _The Hole In Our Gospel_ by Richard Stearns. I think you and Emily have a lot of great ideas here. We should talk about this sometime. Peace.
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