Homeless Families

Tonight I went to a local hotel to help some families who are living there fill out paperwork for a voucher lottery. Jesse was out there a couple of weeks ago with work, and asked if I could go this time to translate for the Spanish-speaking families. Since folks in need are no longer a big demographic in my day to day work, I'm just gonna take a moment to process...

First, I'm reminded once again that Jesse is really strong, and that he has a heck of a lot of hope. For all the cynical code-names he gives his clients, he is able to keep genuinely caring about them and fighting for them without shutting down or burning out. The last time that I worked full-time with an "at-risk" population, I kept going by becoming a little hardened, pretending that people getting locked up or cut was all in a day's work. I was glad to find tonight that my heart has regained its capacity to be broken again and again by individual stories.

Second, it's totally different doing this work as a parent. Most of these folks are eligible for shelter in the first place because they have kids. And those kids are just like Yoni. They were bouncing all over the place in a pre-bed hype, little ones chatting with me, older ones helping me translate the paperwork for their parents. The little ones mostly still know they are loved, tresured, still feel secure even though their moms don't know where they'll be living next week. I gave a 2 year-old a pen and clipboard to draw on, and his 3 year-old sister immediately tried to take it from him. I gave her one, too. She smiled, thanked me, and gave her first drawing to her brother. I wished there were a supply of homes for them as limitless as my bounty of office supplies. As it was, a lot of parents' jaws dropped at the prospect of 8,000 vouchers being released in 2 years.

Jesse did an alternative "martyrology" at the Havurah on Rosh Hashannah, focusing on contemporary homeless martyrs rather than ancient sages killed by Romans. It is generating some momentum, and I'm hopeful that we can do something more focused as a community to address homelessness.