not inclined to support any real, workable programs

See, now this strikes a personal chord.

As a former homeless person for almost 6 years from my late teens to my early 20's, let me tell you this: the kind of 'help' the religious organizations give to homeless people is actually worse then useless.

Say you need food, okay. Food aid they do... well, it's never stored properly and is often rotten, but it's better then dying.

Now allow me to explain to you the church "shelter" programs. 5 or 6 churches get together, and they set up first come first serve days where the homeless can sleep overnight. Sounds like a good idea, right? It's not. It's a horrible idea. You have to be up and out at 7 AM, and then, if you want to sleep inside, you need to get to the next church by 5 PM, because that's when they start reserving the beds. Except if you actually WANT a bed, you start lining up pretty much at 10 in the morning. I won;t get into the hours of praying you're required to do, because hey.. free bed.

Do you see any time in there to, you know, get a job? If a church REALLY wants to help, then they need to offer the beds every night, and they need to be assigned to one person until they don't show up before say.. 8 PM. But nobody wants to do this, because homeless people, many mentally ill, make a bigass mess and it's hard to clean up the church in time for the normals to attend.

Upshot? It amkes the churchies feel like they're doing something. Downside? They aren;t helping at all. There's no way out of homelessness this way, and worse; BECAUSE your average idiot churchgoer thinks it's actually helping the homeless, they're not inclined to support any real, workable programs with their tax dollars. "Go to the church for help!" Bullshit. But to the average jackhole, they think it's enough and the homeless are being lazy.

Then we have category 2, the religious semi permanent shelter. Wow. Great, idea, NEVER done correctly. 6 month waiting list, minimum, all of them. What are the requirements for getting inside? You can't have used drugs or alcohol in the last 6 months. THEY HAIR FIBER TEST. Yes, the cost of a HAIR FIBER TEST is wasted on this strange rule. Not using while in, yes. Haven't used for 6 month. What? Have these people ever BEEN homeless? I hate drugs with a passion, but shit even I sparked up a doobie now and again to alleviate the bleakness of the situation. It's either that or kill yourself.


I just got off the phone with a friend of 20 years who was homeless for a year and a half - until a couple weeks ago. Drugs took him down....again. My wife and I have always let him know we love him and respect him for being a kind hearted person, so he's always felt comfortable staying in touch.

We met Anthony at a shelter where we were helping out (and still do). A couple of times he got it together pretty well. Had a good job, car, place to live. But, the drugs always end up getting him in the end. This is a guy who graduated from U Tenn and had the world by the tail. He just got out of detox. Hope it works out this time. Funny thing is, this time he didn't use until the last couple of weeks sleeping under the same overpass (on cardboard the last year and a half). It was really good to hear from him.

Homelessness is caused by many things. But for the Grace of God go I. I never talked to a homeless person where I didn't walk away a better person for the experience. Somehow, talking to them with respect is more important than the money I might give them to make it through another night fed or comforted by their flavor of booze. They never fail to say, "God Bless You". I always answer, "He just did".


They're all someone's brother, sister, uncle, aunt, mother or father, child. This Christmas I'm doing the usual and buying prepaid postcards and pens to hand out so they can let their loved ones know they're alive. Many of them are just ashamed of their lives and reluctant to reconnect. But, I've witnessed a lot of tearful reunions when family members come to pick them up after getting that phone call they've been waiting for for so long. Answered prayers.

We had a reunion her last year that was amazing. A young lady who'd been an executive for a major corporation was having some issues with depression. She was changing planes here several years ago on her way home for Christmas and help. Facing a couple hour layover, she wandered out of the airport terminal, and ended up homeless for several years. She was on her way to Houston to meet with her family and get some help. It was really something when they reconnected.

God Bless them all. None of them ever planned for their lives to turn out this way.