Homelessness In Abile Research Paper

Homelessness in Abilene
It is the morning rush hour, a homeless man stands at the curb of a busy street, hands stretched out, holding a dirty cardboard sign with washed out words written in marker reading, “No home and hungry, please help and God bless”. His clothes are ragged, his hair oily and unkempt. This is his spot. People drive by; most look away, some acknowledge him. Many people turn away thinking this man is a failure, a bum who needs a pack of cigarettes or an addict looking for his next fix. The sympathetic throw down a few quarters; they have done their good deed for the day. Many people see the homeless as outcasts. Though the question arises, isn’t there something wrong with a society that has so much poverty amidst so much
wealth? Homelessness in Abilene is a critical issue that requires everyone’s attention.
Being a Christian university, ACU should play a role in the ending of homelessness in Abilene. We are called to be Jesus and beyond to everyone who needs it. There are a lot of people who need him more than ever here in Abilene whether that be homeless people or people who need a helping hand. It’s important to give back to the community to continue building it up not bringing it down. ACU should have a program year-round to combat the state of homelessness in Abilene.
A program that would allow students to donate money out of their own personal accounts, possibly bean bucks. Say if forty-five hundred students gave ten dollars to a bean buck program, they could use that money to help the homeless by feeding them, giving them shelter, and clothing them. Fundraising is another great idea to raise money for a good cause because many people need that extra help. ACU could easily have a fundraiser with food, games, and various attractions to lure people in to raise the necessary funds to provide people with the
essentials.
Many people look at a homeless person and think, they got themselves into that mess they can get themselves out. They may make an excuse as to why they may not be able to contribute anything towards a homeless person just by the thought they may use the money to fuel their addiction when in reality they may just need the money for food. People who are homeless live a life of struggle. These are people struggling to find their next meal or overpass to sleep under. Many people take their lives for granted. A homeless person has nothing but usually the clothes on their backs. I think its up to people to show their compassion to these people and to let them know that they are not alone through their ordeals, there are givers that want to help get them out of their current situation. Homeless people would most likely make an effort to get out of the state of being homeless if they had a support system of people behind their backs ready to catch them if they fall.
Then there are the types of homeless people not willing to make an effort to blend back into society. These people would rather see how much sympathy money they can obtain before they head back to the same place they sleep every night to be ready to go back to the same spot they were yesterday. Sign in hand, arms outstretched, asking for a handout is how many homeless go about their daily lives instead of using the money they have accumulated from handouts to go find a
job.
No matter how the person got to how they are right now homeless or not, they are still human beings. They all need the same love and affection everyone else receives, they’re just people down on their luck who are begging bystanders on the streets for a second chance. People who turn away from homeless people and are disgusted with them have clearly not put themselves into their shoes. Who knows, they may not even be wearing any! But when people step into other’s less fortunate shoes and see their perspective of the world and how hard their life really is, struggling to survive, they just might have compassion for these people and help them with a simple donation, food, clothing, or something as small as saying, “God bless you” to brighten up their spirits.
Abilene is a relatively large area with lots of homeless people searching for a place to go. Abilene Hope Haven is a homeless shelter providing people a place to live up to one year with the essentials they need to get back on their feet and eventually on their way back to becoming productive members of society. This organization works with people to find jobs, educate their children, and care for them while they attempt to get back to living a self-sufficient life. While others may not get so lucky to be able to live at a homeless shelter due to a lack of space or essentials, there are food banks in Abilene meant to give back to the community and help feed those in need of a good home-cooked meal. Organizations such as Community Foundation of Abilene, is a soup kitchen up and serving the homeless people of Abilene one meal at a time. Soup kitchens are very beneficial to the city of Abilene because of the lack of food homeless people have. Even just volunteering for a few hours can make a difference in someone’s life.
The homelessness in Abilene affects everyone, not just the people involved. People with nowhere to go, nothing to eat, and nothing but the clothes on their backs struggling to survive in the city that is Abilene is a sad sight. This is America, the greatest country in the world, and yet there are still homeless people. You can give back to the community, help someone out by giving them a hot meal or a small donation. It takes a heart of compassion to really feel what the homeless are going through and to care for them when they are at their lowest point. If Abilene is going to get rid of homelessness, someone has to take a stand and say no to it. If the homeless shelters in the area offered some type of program to help people learn a skill they can apply and use in the workforce, there would be less people struggling and more people living their lives as they should be. People are struggling daily because of the lack of something being done. It is sad because these people don’t have to live like this. It is really up to the surrounding Christian colleges and churches to really show Abilene that homelessness is not acceptable. If all these things were accomplished by the city of Abilene, there would be a drastic decrease in the amount of homeless people living here and more people that are able to support themselves in all that they do. If people want to change homelessness, it is up to people to stop looking at less fortunate as outcasts. They are just like any other person, they’re just in a hole and just need a hand to help them out.