You park your Jag in the garage, a long day at the office. Two minor surgeries and a tripple bypass. You go inside to find your wifes ring on top of divorce papers on the table. There's a note; "Fell in love with the personal trainer, sorry it didn't work out. hope you find happiness. - your soon to be ex wife."
Within six months, she owns the house, and the jag, you only get to see the kids every other weekend, and you have 30 days to vacate the house. You get a cheap motel room for a while to look for an apartment. Within those four walls, depression sets in. You start drinking a bit more, and more often. You are late to work, and begin caring less. Soon enough, your boss is on you. Finally, you stop caring. You get into it with the boss, and she fires you. Your savings dwindle as you pay your bills. Soon enough, the money is gone. You get kicked out of your apartment. You are now in the car. Driving to find a quiet place to rest, you pull over and ask for directions. A young man approaches, he pulls out a gun. Standing now on the street, alone. Nothing.
Now, what? A charity case. Nothing but a bum, too proud to ask relatives if you can sleep on their couch, too depressed to think you are worth saving anyway. You find some measure of solice in the charity of other, if only momentarily until you open the cap on the liquer and begin your lonely enebriated spiral into the dream of that which once was. Stumbling on the street, completely hammered, crying, asking why you? Flashing lights, cold metal bars, waking up to a hot breakfast, a man could get used to this.
People pass by you, kicking your feet telling you "Get a job, piece of shit!", and "What a waste, people like you should just die, society would not have to pay for your slobbering, drunk ass!". Police constantly hounding you to "Move along!" or "Come with us."
You stand in line for a sandwich. The man behind you asks if he can get ahead of you, because his cart is unattended. You refuse, he punches you in the eye. A trip to the hospital. On the way out, a young woman sees you. Your eyes turned down in shame, she comes up to you. "Do you have someplace to go?" She asks.
She brings you to a building next to a greenhouse. Inside an office, you sign in, and wait to be seen. The door opens, and you go in. Your story is writ. They ask what things I enjoyed doing as a job. What things I'm interested in learning, or doing as a hobby. Did I need a residence?
After I was signed up and registered, they took me to the garden. They told me to look around, and help out if I saw an opportunity. I found a group of young people struggling with a heavy bag of soil. Getting dirt all over the floor. I rushed over, and helped them guide it into the pots. I helped them sweep it up, introduced myself, and found I had a smile on my face for the first time in years.
Now, I live in a tenement where I help to manage the workers who are rehabbing abandoned and blighted homes in the inner city. The workers live in my building, too. I also help the fathers get visitation with their children, and help to make sure they are able to get to and from doctors visits and plays and parent teacher conferences.
Everywhere I turn here, someone has a hand available if I need it. My dreams, and hopes even take flight here, as I mention them in group. We have little and big projects that we take on as a family. We bring the food we grow in the greenhouses to food pantries, our own kitchen, and we sell the rest at market. Every opportunity we get, we reinvest in our sustainability. I am now certified as a general contractor, water damage restoration specialist, mold remediation technician and horticulture research technician. I am paid competitively, and I am eating 100% organic food.
There are 86,000 homeless people in St. Louis Metropolitin area alone. Just like me, each one has a story. Some come from families who have been on the streets for generations. Some are so adept at living on the streets, I wonder about how society does not realize everyone could be so productive. I have seen gardens between railroads and bridges that feed a small nomadic community who travel on the trains. I mean, numbers in the hundreds. They come from all across the country.
Everyone of us has our own set of skills. We go to one another if we need their expertise. I know a dentist, a lawyer, a barber, a teacher... The list goes on and on. One by one, building by building, garden by garden, we are developing a community in which we provide for everyone. Each of us is paid according to our duty and skill level. I make around $18/hr, and I work overtime on a fairly regular routine. As I continue to do what I enjoy doing, I have further opportunity for advancement in certification, degree and position. I even create new divisions within the project for others to join in our success.
This is not a handout program, I have had to work my tail off to get where I am, and I must stay current, and on top of my duties. I pay for my housing in other ways. I volunteer at blood drives, and in the medical center, as well as working events, and volunteering time to prepare meals for the crews throughout the week.
I also recruit my fellow brethren bums. I see this as an opportunity to show the world that we are only as strong as our weakest link. Even our bums take pride in our country and what we can do as a people. I feel proud to be an American. Where else would you find a rehabilitation program like this? Everyone in this country can be a part of this, and we will only get stronger.
We could be the first country ever to have not one homeless person, nor a single person unemployed who is able to work. Wow.
This may have only been a story, but the wheels are in motion, the story may as well have been real, there are plenty like it. People become homeless for many reasons, and it is not a clear cut linear problem to solve. This project is constructed to use peoples strengths and build their connection to the world around them. Soon enough, our homeless and unemployed population could be the backbone of our thriving society.
Health care cost would decrease because we are eating healthy, staying active, and feeding on positive vibes. This trio could turn us around as a nation. Wake us up, and put our humanity before all else. The meek shall inherit the earth.