The fans are on tonight, both of them sending cool air to me from two different directions here in the living room. The back door is open, as are the windows, but the house is still warm after a day with temperatures in the 90’s. This is not like Texas heat, which has topped 108 this week, but when you live in an asphalt-covered city, 90+ degree days can feel extremely oppressive. Not to mention we only have one air conditioner in our house and it’s upstairs in a bedroom. So, the house can get – and is right now – pretty toasty.
I will need to water my garden early in the morning. This heat burns up the plants, and before I know it, I’ll have a mess of brown, dead leaves and stems. I will water before we go and volunteer at the homeless breakfast tomorrow morning.
When it’s hot, it is especially hard on the homeless in the city. They have few places to go so the libraries and buses end up being the refuges. I also see quite a few homeless people at the beach. The beach is especially good because the breezes are cooler and it’s no big deal to lie down and relax. Not so many options on city streets, where store owners are not happy if the homeless settle in their doorways during business hours. How have we become a nation with such a large homeless population? It is shameful that we have little old woman pushing shopping carts and sleeping in the parks. What has become of us that we allow this sort of social problem to continue? We need to get smarter about how to help our poor. Leaving them to fend for themselves on the streets is not a viable solution.
I remember a day when seeing a homeless woman was unimaginable. Now it’s commonplace. I remember a day when it was unheard of for boys and men to sit on a bus while an older woman stood. They would automatically stand up and offer her their seat. But not now.
We have a social problem and it is not an easy one to solve. I will do my small part to at least help bring food to almost 200 of the homeless tomorrow. It’s a band-aid, but it at least acknowledges that we have a problem.
Food is always a good first step. Then we need to get serious and figure out how to really help these people who have no place else to go besides our city streets. To think the United States of America has this level of homelessness. It is truly disgraceful.
It is time for action.
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