| Recently, my daughter and I were privileged to gather with others to protest the inhumane and criminal sweeps of homeless persons’ encampments by the City of Seattle and the Washington State Department of Transportation. To show our extreme displeasure with the way the city is clearing out encampments of homeless persons, especially since the shelters are full and there is nowhere else for the campers to go, we pitched our tents on the steps of City Hall and spent the night there.
I have always considered myself to be an empathetic person and a staunch advocate for ending homelessness. The night I spent on concrete and my experiences
the next morning have made me realize how little I understood about the problem.
I learned that:
Concrete is not only hard but it is cold: a cold that seeps into your bones and makes you feel tired and old, even if you are young; a cold that means you won’t stay healthy for long.
Rain makes it so you can’t stretch out while you are sleeping, or your foot will touch the tent. If your foot touches the tent, the water seeps through, through your sleeping bag and socks and to your skin. Now you are cold and wet with nowhere to get dry or get any rest. And your bedding will soon start to mildew.
Sleep deprivation is not only used as a torture technique; it is torture. You can’t sleep well when you are cold, afraid that you may be in danger, or afraid that you will be roused by law enforcement at any time. Your neck hurts all the time from involuntarily clenching your teeth while you try to sleep through the fear and the cold. There was a permit and security for the campout, but still, my neck hurt.
It is difficult if not impossible to get or keep a job when you have nowhere to rest or be safe, let alone shower, clean your clothes, or keep your things: things like your tent or sleeping bag, things that can mean the difference between surviving
and dying on the streets.
I learned the next morning that if you look like you had slept on the street, people not only regard you with scorn but consciously avoid you. If you ask if there is a public restroom they may tell you no, even when there is one.
When we got up, my 25-year-old daughter and I went across the intersection
to an indoor mall. While I bought lattes and breakfast pastries she went looking for a restroom. Two clerks in separate businesses told her that there were no public restrooms; a third finally directed her to them. The difference in how we were treated when we no longer looked like middle-class people was astounding.
We have never been told that there was no restroom in a shopping plaza before. Using a public restroom was not something I had ever realized was viewed by some as a privilege, to be allowed, or not, according to perceived social status.
Sore and already weary from a sleepless
night, neither of us had the energy to carry our gear up the hill. We certainly wouldn’t have had the capacity to carry it with us throughout the day and been able to accomplish anything other than survival. As my daughter sat waiting while I brought the car from the parking garage, the only people who made eye contact or directed a smile her way were others who looked as she looked.
Homeless people truly are surviving each day in virtually impossible situations,
and I know now that I am in no way tough enough to hold on under those circumstances. I have a deep respect for every single person who makes it through each night without a home.
I already knew that many of us are only one or two paychecks away from losing our own comfortable and safe lifestyles, especially in cities with little or no affordable housing. I learned that “There but for the grace of God go I” is a literal truth; unforeseen occurrences befall us all.
We must join together and use our collective voice to demand that, unless given alternative shelter or housing, homeless persons be allowed to sleep and store survival gear on public land. No one should have to be sleeping outside because they have no shelter, and we know the answer to ending homelessness
is providing affordable housing; but, in the interim, it is imperative that, at the very least, the current policy of sweeps of homeless encampments is halted.
This isn’t an advocacy or social services issue, this is a human decency issue, and each and every one of us should speak out. Homeless people are PEOPLE. If we allow the inhumane treatment
and theft of property of our homeless
citizens to continue, then we are all guilty of complicity in the crimes and we diminish our own humanity. |
