Plight of the Homeless

On the morning of Monday, January 29, 2007, I went out to assist in interviewing the homeless, just to get their thoughts on how and why they became homeless and if they knew of any resources out there that could help them. I felt that I was prepared for the frigid temperatures outside with new gloves and a scarf that I had just bought, but nothing prepared me for what I encountered that morning. As we walked toward Hart Plaza, we approached a man named Angelo. He was sitting on a step in Hart Plaza. This man had on one glove and he was blowing on the other hand without the glove trying to keep it warm.

I quickly gave Angelo the spare gloves I had in my coat pocket. As we interviewed Angelo, he was very articulate and he talked about the struggles of homeless people in general, he talked about how he and his wife, Monica, who walked up a few minutes later to converse with us, are sleeping in a tent and sleeping bags on the Hart Plaza grounds. Angelo is blind in one eye and walks with a cane (he cannot walk very far).

I asked Angelo if he knew of any resources that were available to him and his wife Monica. Angelo said that he knew of the assistance and he even utilized some of them. "However," stated Angelo, "if you go into a shelter at night; in the morning, they kick you out at 5:00a.m., where are we to go then? And as far as the food, it is as if we get the leftovers." Angelo goes on to say, "Do not get me wrong, I am very grateful for anything that I receive, but the food is made days and weeks earlier, such as sandwiches and then it is given to us, the homeless." Angelo’s wife, Monica, goes on to say that she does not mind working, in fact, she wants a job, but doesn't know who will hire her with the clothes that she is wearing. Some of the shelters will not even let her take a bath.

On my journey of interviewing the homeless, I ran into a few more homeless individuals that had only a few goals in life which are to be happy and not have to struggle. Anthony, who has not seen his family in 3 years and has been homeless for 6 years. Ramone, who only needs to get his broken furnace repaired so that he and his mom can go back to their warm home. Gregory, who was in a car accident and never recovered financially or physically and Joseph, who was just released from prison, had no support system and said that he was tired and just wanted to get off the streets.

Even writing this blog brings tears to my eyes to know that there are people in the world that have no food, clothing or a sense of hope. This saddens my heart to the point that, I wish and I want to start my own homeless shelter to get as many people off the streets that I can. However, I am only one person and who will help the rest?

But just think, if we all took the responsibility to care for at least 1 or 2 of our brothers and sisters, it would make the world of difference in their lives and ours.

Wanda Y. Ghannoum
Information & Referral Associate
United Way 2-1-1