Spotlight on Homelessness: The Face of Homelessness

It's always interesting when people say to me, “You don't look homeless”. I guess that's a compliment, but it leaves me wondering, “What does homelessness look like?” Perhaps when people hear that word they are picturing a shaggy bearded man who hasn't showered in weeks, sleeping under a freeway overpass, and making a living by holding a cardboard sign that reads, “Will Work For Food”.

The fact is, homelessness does not have a look, but it does have many faces. An orphaned child suddenly becomes an adult, and his foster parents no longer feel responsible for him. A single mother has spent years fighting against poverty, but has recently lost the battle. A Big Three employee has assembled the hottest cars for years, but was laid off after training the replacement that will do his job for a third of his salary. A college graduate who is up to her ears in tuition loans, but can't find a job for more than minimum wage because her field is no longer in demand.

Sudden illness, death in the family, mental illness, addiction, outsourcing, the popping of the real estate bubble, and natural disaster are just a few of the reasons why one may find themselves sleeping in a commercial facility with several strangers; each with a story to tell.

Of course, I have run into plenty of the stereotypical types, as well; winos hanging around the Blake Transit Center in Ann Arbor--old hippies with beards down to their belly buttons, bottle caps clipped in their hair, and memories of Woodstock clinging to the forefront of their minds. You can usually smell them as they enter the cafeteria doors at the Delonis Center looking for a free meal before they return to their homey tent in Ann Arbor's Tent City.

Some people have a way of living that is different, but comfortable for them. Perhaps it's the only existence their addiction or debilitating mental illness will allow. Perhaps their ideals force them to reject the accepted norms of society and search out a simpler, less convoluted lifestyle.

My exposure to the world of homelessness has made me curious about people and their circumstances. What brought them to this point in their lives. What are their hopes and dreams, or did they stopping dreaming a long time ago? Each week I will try to shine my Spotlight on the individual faces of homelessness. How did we get here? Where do we go from here? Is this it? Is this the life we will lead until our creator decides we have walked this planet long enough?

I can't tell you how many people I have seen overdose, pray for God to end their suffering, or threaten to end their own lives. This life is hard for all of us, homeless or not, and we all have a story to tell. We have family somewhere. We have experiences that are ours and ours alone. We have lives that mean something, even when the scene of our meager existence is set in Tent City.

Maybe my purpose is to tell these stories, one by one, face by face, so that we are not so invisible anymore; so that people know who we are, where we came from, how we are still managing to fight for our lives though we are drowning in the middle of the ocean with nothing but a slowly sinking plank of wood to hang on to.

I will do the job I have been called to do. I will serve my purpose. Are you ready to listen?